Dear Mom and Dad
by headmaster lion who can talk
Summary: CAMP WAWANAKWA: The camp for troubled teens. Camp Wawanakwa is a sunny and welcoming island equipt with everything to give your children a healthy, calming rejuvenating summer full of wholesome and safe activities. Trust us.
1. Prologue

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

 _Having difficulties handling your teenager? Have\ing trouble connecting? Worried they're getting themselves into trouble or that they may be heading down the wrong path? We're here to help._

 _ **CAMP WAWANAKWA: The camp for troubled teens.**_

 _Just off the coast of Muskoka, Camp Wawanakwa is a sunny and welcoming island equipt with everything to give your children a healthy, calming rejuvenating summer full of wholesome and safe activities. The camp and the summer plans are designed specifically to cater to troubled young teenagers who could use a dose of peace and quiet to help readjust their character while keeping them away from the public for a few months. Fresh air and team building will do your child good._

 _Trust us._


	2. Day 1

**Day 1**

Twenty-four teenagers eyed each other wearily as the boat sped across the water. Looks of annoyance, interest, anger, and enjoyment peppered their faces. Many of them were completely put out to be sent away to summer camp, and the ones who weren't either seemed cautious and confused or they just sat back and enjoyed the ride. It was a nice day; the sun was high and the breeze off the water kept the air cool and the boat ride was smooth and relaxing. They soon arrived at the island's dock, gathered their bags and personal items, and climbed off the boat. Down on the dock, a man in a blue shirt waited for them.

"Is this where we're staying?" One of the boys asked.

"No," Another responded, cracking his knuckles "It's your mother's house, and we're throwing a party."

"Cute. Nice piercings, original, do them yourself?"

"Yeah, you want one?" He grabbed the other boy's lip.

"Ugh, no thanks. Can I have my lip back please?" He let go. "Thanks.

"Welcome," The man in blue said, "To Camp Wawanakwa! My name's Chris McClean, I'll be watching over you for the duration of the summer."

"You got my memo about my life threatening allergies?" The firs boy from before asked.

"I'm sure someone did," Chris said. "Before we get started on the tour, I'm gonna do a quick roll call, so just say here when I call your name." He looked at the clipboard in his hands. "Alejandro," He called. A hispanic looking boy with long dark hair raised his hand

"Here," Alejandro said.

"Cool. Come on up and get a name tag."

"Name tags? Seriously?" A girl with long dark hair said, "Where are we, the first grade?"

"Someone missed their double cappuccino macchiato this morning," One of the guys said.

"Get bent."

"There's twenty-four of you. That's a lot of names, not just for me, but for all of you. Name tags will help, trust me." Chris said, regaining everyone's attention.

The girl rolled her eyes as Alejandro made himself a name tag and stuck it on the side of his dark red shirt.

"Beth," Chris called out. An eager looking girl with glasses and braces across her teeth raised her hand and hurried up to make a name tag. She had trouble finding a place to put it among the many pins on her vest. She settled on the lower right section of her shirt.

"Bridgette."

A blonde girl with a large surfboard raised her hand. She leaned down to pull a pen out of her bag and nearly hit everyone in her immediate vicinity.

"Dang! Watch the board, man!" A red headed guy said from her left.

"What?" Bridgette asked, standing up straight and leaning around, almost hitting everyone again. No one said anything, but instead just stared at her, so Bridgette shrugged and went up to make a name tag.

One by one, the teenagers had their names called and made their name tags, all the while being carefully studied by everyone else. Cody was on the short side but he walked like he thought he was king of the world. Courtney had pretty, dark eyes and shoulder length brown hair. DJ was a big brick house type of black guy. Duncan stood out immediately with a green mohawk and an array of piercings. Eva seemed like she could snap anyone of the others like a twig, and wouldn't hesitate to if provoked. Ezekiel was pale and had unkempt brown hair worn under a dark blue winter hat despite the warm summer weather. Geoff wore a bright pink shirt with none of the buttons done and had a cowboy hat sitting on top of his shaggy blonde hair. Gwen had notably pale skin, teal striped hair, and a gloomy disposition. Harold was a real string bean with dark red hair and glasses. Heather was a rather pretty dark haired girl with a bad attitude. Izzy wore all green and had a head of wild, bright red curls. Justin was the tall, dark, and handsome type. Katie was thin with dark skin and she had a striped crop top and her hair pulled back in pigtails, exactly like one of the other girls. The pair of them couldn't stop squealing. Leshawna was black with a long weave and a whole lot of personality. Lindsay was the well endowed and beautiful with long blonde hair and sparkly blue eyes, although she didn't seem to be all too bright. Noah seemed like the real know-it-all type and wore several layers of shirts. Owen was a big guy with a blue maple leaf across his shirt and a smile on his face. Sadie was the other girl with the striped crop top and pigtails, although she was pale and curvy. Sierra was tall and had hair that was a beautiful shade of purple. Trent carried a guitar and had striking green eyes. Tyler seemed like the athletic type in his red tracksuit and matching sweat band.

After all the campers had been checked off and they each sported a name tag, Chris lead them up to the firepit.

"So this is summer camp?" Izzy asked eagerly, "Do you have paper mache here? Are we having lunch soon?"

"That is a good call!" Owen said.

"Eyes on me, please," Chris said "So now that we know everyone's here who's supposed to be, here's how this summer is gonna work: There will be mandatory group activities every other day or so, but on the off days you're free to swim, lounge around, or explore within certain boundaries. If you'd like to go outside of those boundaries for a hike or if you'd like to go out on the canoes, you'll have to get my permission, and you'll have to go in a group of five or more. Mandatory activities will vary throughout the summer. Keep you on your toes. Hehe."

"Excuse me," Duncan said, "What will the sleeping arrangements be like? Because I'd like to request a bunk under her." He gestured to Heather.

"They're not co-ed, are they?" Heather asked nervously.

"No," Chris said, "Girls get one cabin, and dudes get the other."

"Excuse me, Kyle, can I get a cabin with a lake view because I'm the prettiest?" Lindsay said, raising her hand.

"Okay, you are," Chris responded, "But that's not really how it works here. And it's Chris."

"I have to sleep next to Sadie or I'll die," Katie said.

"And I'll break out in hives," Sadie added.

"This can not be happening," Gwen grumbled.

"Aw, come on guys," Owen said, grabbing Gwen and Tyler around the necks from behind "It'll be fun! It's like a big sleepover!"

"At least you don't have to sleep next to him," Tyler whispered, gesturing to Duncan who was noogying a deer he had pulled into a headlock.

"As I was saying," Chris continued, "Every night there'll be a campfire here at the fire pit with plenty of marshmallows. Everyone is expected to at least make an appearance to check in. Make sure you haven't wandered off or anything. No scheduled activities for today, just relax and check out the campgrounds. Chef Hatchet will be serving lunch in the mess hall in about twenty minutes, so until then, go on and unpack. Girls are in the east cabin, boys are in the west. See you at the campfire tonight!"

The campers all looked around at each other for a moment before picking up their bags and walking off towards the cabins.

"Meet you by the campfire, gorgeous," Duncan hissed as he passed by Heather.

"Drop dead you skeeze," She spat back.

The girls began filing into their cabin.

"Bunk beds? Isn't this a little summer camp?" Heather retorted.

"That's the idea, genius," Gwen said, passing by her.

"Ugh, shut up weird goth girl."

"You're so smart," Cody said, "I feel that."

"Shouldn't you be on the boy's side?" Gwen asked him.

"Where are the outlets? I have to plug in my straightening iron," Lindsay said.

"There are some in the communal bathrooms just across the way," Chris replied.

"Communal bathrooms? But I'm not Catholic."

"Not communion, communal."

"It means we shower together, idiot," Gwen explained.

"Aww! No, come on!"

"Excuse me, Chris?" Geoff said, "Is there a chaperone of any kind in this facility?"

"You're all sixteen years old," Chris said, "As old as a counselor in training at a regular summer camp. So, other than myself and Chef Hatchet, you'll be unsupervised."

"Nice?"

"What'd he mean by 'regular summer camp,'" Bridgette asked, "Isn't this a regular summer camp?"

Just then a piercing scream rang out from inside the girl's cabin.

"Oh, man, that white girl can scream!" Leshawna said.

Everyone rushed over to the doorway to see Lindsay cowering on a stool after seeing a cockroach on the floor of the cabin.

"What is it?" She squeaked, "Kill it! Kill it!"

Screams were heard from a few people who jumped out of the way while others tried to stop out the nasty bug. They were entirely unsuccessful until Duncan sliced it in half with an ax.

"Well, that's one way to kill a cockroach," Gwen retorted.

Tyler slid his way over to Lindsay and said "If you ever see one of those again, just let me know, kay? 'Cause I can do that too." The two stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Duncan scoffed.

"They always go for the jocks," He said.

The campers all arrived in the mess hall a few minutes later and were introduced to Chef Hatchet, a big burly man who seemed like he had probably spent some time in prison.

"Listen up!" He yelled as the campers formed a line up to his window, "I serve it three times a day, and you'll eat it three times a day. Grab a tray, get your food, and sit your butts down now!"

"Excuse me, will we be getting all the necessary food groups?" Beth asked.

"Yeah," Harold added, "Because I get hypoglycemic real bad if I don't get enough sugar."

"You'll get a whole lot of shut the hell up!" Chef yelled back at them. The two took their trays and sat down.

One by one everyone passed through the line and Chef served them lunch. He gave Noah two scoops of whatever brown goo was on the sandwiches because Chef thought he was too scrawny. The campers ate their lunches while making awkward conversation with one another. Some people got along fairly well, and others really didn't. After lunch, the twenty-four teenagers sat around camp bored. Some were still feeling sorry for themselves for being forcibly sent to summer camp by their parents. Regardless, everyone was still awkward and uncomfortable for everyone since they had just been thrust onto an isolated island with a bunch of people they had never even seen before. Geoff looked around at the other campers and frowned.

"Aw, come on guys," He said, "What's with all the down faces?"

"Well we don't exactly all want to be here," Eva growled.

"Yes, and we don't know each other at all," Alejandro added.

"But still," Geoff said, "like it or not this place is ours for the summer. It could be a total party if we make it one, so let's make the best of it!"

"How?" Tyler asked.

Geoff thought for a moment as he looked around. His eyes came across a very large cliff a little ways up the beach and suddenly he got an idea.

 **God damn, that was a lot. I knew this would be a long chapter, but shit fam, I didn't think it would be that long! There will be a part two to day 1. It was going to be all one chapter, but I can only write so much at once, you know? This fic isn't just going to be a copy of the show's transcript, there's going to be adjustments, changes, and plenty of add ins. Plus there are no eliminations, so that's a whole lot of extra campers to write in.** **There was a lot more direct quoting in this chapter than I expected, it's just that the first episode has a lot of great establishing lines and moments for both the characters and the camp.** **Some of the challenges may be mandatory activities, some may not be, we'll see how this goes. Anyway, for now just read, review, follow, and enjoy!**


	3. Day 1 Part 2

**Day 1 Part 2**

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Geoff?" Bridgette asked. Party boy Geoff had somehow managed to convince all twenty-four campers to hike up the cliff for some sort of bonding thing. They had reached the top and while some campers were enjoying the view, others had grown weary of the height.

"Yeah! It'll be totally sick!" Geoff responded.

"It could be dangerous," Courtney said, "What if someone falls off the edge?"

"That's what the bathing suits are for!"

"Wait, I'm confused," Lindsay said, "Are we supposed to fall off?"

"Yeah, dudes! We're going cliff jumping!"

"Excuse me?" Heather exclaimed, "Absolutely not. I'll get my hair wet!"

"Aw come on, guys, it'll be fun!"

"No," DJ said. "No way. I am not participating in your freaky white people thrill seeking death wish bull shit."

"Psh. Bunch of wimps," Duncan scoffed.

"Oh, so I suppose you're going to jump first then?" Heather asked, getting in his face.

"Hey, ease up, dudes," Geoff said, "This is supposed to be fun."

"How is jumping off a cliff supposed to be fun?" Heather yelled. "This is mental, I'm going back to camp."

"If she's going back I'm going back!" Lindsay declared.

The campers all began to bicker amongst themselves. Some protested Geoff's idea as dangerous or stupid, others reprimanded those who were complaining. Through all the chaos it was clear that no one was going to be the first to jump. Geoff was trying and failing to regain everyone's attention and contain the bickering. He just wanted everyone to get along and maybe have a good time. Bridgette stood at the back of the group in her wet suit looking sadly over all the chaos. She really felt bad for Geoff, his heart was in a good place and now he just looked so sad. Suddenly, Bridgette took off in a run towards the end of the cliff. Everyone fell completely silent as they saw her cut through the group. There was a moment of stillness as they all watched her disappear off the edge of the cliff. When they had finally registered what she had just done they all rushed to look over the edge. They watched with wide eyes as she fell and splashed down into the lake. Everyone held their breath waiting to see if she'd come back up. Geoff was just starting to panic, thinking he might have put this girl in real danger, when finally, Bridgette emerged from the water and waved up at the others.

"Come on in, guys" She yelled from below, "The water feels great!"

"She did it!" Tyler said, "Yeah! Yeah! I'm next!" He backed up to get a running start and the others cleared a path for him "Kowabunga!" He yelled as he jumped off the cliff. He sailed smoothly through the air before landing hard on a buoy sitting on top of the water.

"Watch out for the buoys!" Bridgette shouted up to the others.

A huge smile cracked across Geoff's face and he jumped over the edge, cheering the whole way down.

Soon, the campers were all waiting for their turn to take the jump. They clapped and cheered when others jumped, and cringed when Ezekiel hit a rock and Howard somehow landed in a split. Everyone seemed to actually be bonding and having a really great time. Well, almost everyone.

"I'm sorry," Heather said, "There's no way I'm doing this."

"Why not?" Beth asked.

"Hello! I'll get my hair wet."

"Aw come on, Heather! What about group bonding?" Geoff called up from the beach.

"Yeah, come on, it's fun!" Bridgette added.

"As if I'd actually want to bond with any of you freaks," She spat.

"Oh," Leshawna said, "No no. Ain't no way it's gonna be like that all summer. Just jump off the damn cliff, you spoiled little daddy's girl."

"Make me you ghetto glamour too tight pants wearing wannabee."

"Mall shopping ponytail wearing teen girl reading peaking in high school prom queen!"

"Well at least I'm popular."

"Oh, that's it!" Leshawna had had it with Heather. She lifted the other girl over her head and tossed her into the water.

"Leshawna!" Heather said, spitting out water, "You are so dead."

"Aw come on, you're fine! Now I just hope I can make it too." Leshawna jumped off and landed in the water next to Heather who just glared at her.

"I don't know guys, I don't think I can do it," DJ said.

"Don't worry! It's not that bad, eh!" Ezekiel called up.

"I'm scared too," Beth said quietly, coming up next to DJ. "Do you want to go together? Maybe it won't be so bad then."

"Uh, yeah! Okay, thanks!" DJ said, smiling down at Beth. The two grabbed hands and jumped over the cliff screaming.

Only three campers remained at the top of the cliff: Duncan, Courtney, and Owen.

"What's a matter, Princess, to chicken to jump?" Duncan said to Courtney.

"I have a medical condition," She responded.

"What kind of condition?" Owen asked.

"The kind that prevents me from jumping off of cliffs."

"Oh, please." Duncan scoffed.

"Have something you'd like to add Duncan?"

"That's a load of shit and you know it, Princess."

"I don't have to prove anything to you," Courtney said turning her back to him and crossing her arms. Duncan nudged Owen with his elbow and smirked before giving Courtney a good shove off the cliff. She let out a surprised scream as she hit the water. She glared up only to find Duncan had jumped in right behind her. She spit out a bit of water before shoving Duncan as much as she could while staying afloat.

"You just pushed me off a cliff!"

"Yeah, you should've seen the look on your face."

"I could've gotten seriously injured!"

"But you didn't."

"Ugh, just don't do something like that again."

"Whatever."

The two swam to shore as the campers already there looked up at Owen.

"All right, Owen! It's all you!" Geoff yelled.

The other campers echoed him with cried of "Come on, Owen!" and "You can do it!" as Owen looked nervously over the edge. Boy, did that look like a long way down. Sure everyone made it down safe, but Tyler hit a buoy and Ezekiel hit a rock. Plus Harold landed in a split, and there were a million other things that could go wrong. Owen wasn't that strong a swimmer, what if he drowned? What if there were man eating sharks? What if he sank so far down he couldn't swim back up in time? What if-

"Take a good run at it, buddy," Geoff yelled. "You can do this!"

"If he does this, he's gonna die," Gwen mumbled to no one in particular.

"I'm going to die now," Owen said, preparing to jump, "I'm going to fucking die now."

Down on the beach, the other twenty-three campers watched with baited breath as they wondered what was about to happen.

"Come on, big guy," Leshawna said.

Owen took a deep breath, started yelling and ran right off the edge of the cliff. He yelled all the way down as the other campers watched in astonishment from the shore. Owen hit the water, creating a huge wave that washed over everyone on the shore.

"Yes!" He yelled, "Yeah, aw yeah! Who's the man?"

Everyone stood in shock for a moment before Beth began cheering for Owen. Suddenly, everyone erupted in cheers for both Owen and themselves for having just jumped off a cliff. That morning, everyone woke up melancholy, if not completely miserable at the thought of being shipped off to spend their whole summer on some shitty island with a bunch of strangers. For the most part, they expected to sit around all summer doing nothing wishing they were home, or at the beach, and now they'd all done something totally ballsy that they'd never even thought to consider trying.

Later that night, they all sat around the campfire talking together. They may still not like each other, but they were much more at ease. Geoff sat next to Bridgette and offered her a stick with a marshmallow on the end.

"Hey, thanks for having my back earlier," He said, "It was really cool of you to jump first like that."

"Thanks," Bridgette said, accepting the marshmallow and holding it over the fire as her and Geoff smiled at each other.

At a nearby table, Leshawna was picking her own marshmallow and stick when Heather and Lindsay approached her.

"I just wanted to say I didn't mean that about you being a ghetto rap star wannabee, and I love your earrings. They're so pretty!" Heather said.

"Straight up?" Leshawna said, "Well, I'm sorry about pushing you over the cliff and all."

"No worries. I needed a push. Truce?" Heather extended her hand to Leshawna.

"Yeah, yeah, you got it." Leshawna held out her fist and she and Heather fist bumped. Leshawna turned back to the marshmallows as Heather and Lindsay walked away.

"Did you mean all that stuff you said to Lafonda back there?" Lindsay asked.

"Leshawna," Heather scoffed, "No. She's going down. And ps, those are the ugliest earrings I have seen in my life."

"So campers," Chris said, gathering everyone's attention. "You all seem to be adjusting well. After the campfire you'll all be expected to head to your cabins for tonight. You'll get a wake up call tomorrow morning at eight am. You'll have an hour and a half to get up and grab breakfast in the mess hall. Our first mandatory activity will start tomorrow morning at nine thirty. We'll break for a half hour lunch at noon, and then get back to the activity. So what did you all do today?"

The campers shared looks before Geoff spoke up.

"We jumped off a cliff, dude!"

 **Yay! Reckless activities! Wow, this was still pretty long, I've never done a fic with chapters this long. Anyway, the next chapter will probably be entirely original content, so that will be fun. Please review, and feel free to send me suggestions for any activities you'd like to see the campers do at some point.**


	4. Day 2

**Day 2**

"Ugh, archery? Really?" Heather complained.

Chris had gotten the protesting campers up and out of bed at eight in the morning. Whatever their view on being at camp was, none of them were happy about an early morning. After breakfast, he and Chef led them all out to the field where four archery targets had been set up and plenty of bows and arrows were laid out on the ground.

"Aw, come on!" Cody said, "Archery's cool!"

"Yeah yeah!" Izzy yelled, "Bow and arrow! So cool! I'm so great at this, just wait!"

"Whatever. Are we supposed to do this all day?"

"More or less," Chris said. "You'll each grab a bow and follow along while Chef Hatchet gives you an archery tutorial. Then you'll all line up in front of a target. You'll take turns shooting at the targets and practicing your aim. Maybe if you all get good enough we'll hide some targets around camp."

"What if we already have archery skills?" Harold asked.

Chris stared blankly at Harold for a moment before speaking. "Yeah, I'm gonna have you go through the tutorials anyway. Just to be sure."

Harold sighed. "Fine."

"All right, listen up ya little punks," Chef said, getting in front of the group. "Pay attention!"

The campers ran to each grab a bow as Chef began shouting instructions at them.

About half an hour later, everyone stood in four rows of six, taking turns shooting at the targets. For the most part, they weren't too good. They mostly managed to hit somewhere on the target, but most of them got nowhere near the bullseye. There were a few exceptions, of course; Alejandro, Sierra, Trent, Ezekiel, and Eva were doing pretty well, but the others were a bit of a mess and Tyler was particularly bad. Izzy somehow managed to get a bullseye every time she took a shot, which seemed a bit concerning.

Trent took a shot and hit the ring just outside the center of the target.

"Wow, you're pretty good at this," Gwen said, surprised.

"I guess I am," Trent responded. He was pleasantly surprised at how well he was picking this up. "I'll bet you're pretty great at this, too, though."

"As if. I can barely manage to hit the target." Gwen held up her bow and readied her shot.

"Try spreading your feet out a little more," Trent said, "It'll help steady you."

Gwen widened her stance and took her shot. It landed in one of the middle rungs, a lot closer than she had been getting. "Wow. Thanks," She said, smiling at Trent. The two walked to the back of their line.

A few lines down, Alejandro hit a bullseye.

"Well! That wasn't so hard," He said, smiling mischievously "Isn't this easy, Heather?"

Behind him, Heather was fuming. As soon as Alejandro stepped out of the way Heather quickly shot at the target, missing it completely.

"Oh, what a shame!" Alejandro said with a condescending overtone to his voice, "You should really slow down. Take your time to align your shot. Then maybe after awhile you could get to be as good as I am." Alejandro walked to the back of the line.

As Heather glared after Alejandro, Lindsay stepped up, aligned her shot, and hit the target just barely on the bullseye.

"Hey! Look Heather! I got an eye-shot thingy! Alejandro was right, this is easy!" Lindsay said as Heather gasped. She threw her bow down in frustration and stormed off the field.

"Hey!" Chris called after her, "Where do you think you're going? This activity is mandatory."

"It's stupid is what it is. I'm going to the cabins."

"Oh no, you don't. Chef!"

As Chef started towards Heather a panicked look crossed her face and she started to run. Chef chased after her, determined to bring her back to the targets.

"Uh, yeah, Chris?" Duncan said, "Can we call it a day? This is seriously lame."

"Yeah, dude, my arms are getting tired," Geoff added.

"Well then suck it up. This is mandatory," Chris said.

"You can't seriously expect us to do this all day," Courtney said, crossing her arms.

"Yes, I can. And I do."

"There is no way I'm doing this all day," Gwen said, dropping her bow. A few other campers followed suit.

Chris sighed in frustration. "Okay, fine! If you take all this stuff back to the shed you can break for lunch and have the rest of the day off."

The campers cheered and quickly cleared the equipment. Chef came back from chasing Heather.

"I told you this was a bad idea," He said quietly to Chris.

"What are you talking about? They're all fine."

"Yeah, but we got lucky. They got bored before any of the testier ones snapped. These kids are too dangerous to be given weapons like that. What if it hadn't been that girl that snapped? What if it had been-"

"Okay, fine! You're right! We won't do anything like this again."

The two walked off the field and towards the mess hall. Harold peered around the leaves that had concealed him from sight. He had climbed up the tree to gather a few stray arrows and ended up hearing the whole exchange between Chris and Chef Hatchet. He jumped to the ground and glanced wearily at the arrows in his hand then looked up to where the two men had walked off. He shook the exchange out of his head and went to return the arrows to the shed.

 **Please review.**


	5. Day 3

**Day 3**

The campers all sat lazily around the tables in the mess hall poking at their oatmeal. They had all grumbled and groaned when Chris tried to wake them up at eight that morning. They tried to protest saying that since it was a day off for them they should get to wake up whenever they want. Chris gave in and said they could keep sleeping, but Chef made sure everyone knew that there would be no breakfast served after nine. Thus, the campers all dragged themselves out of bed, with many vowing to return as soon as they ate.

"So what should we do today?" Izzy asked the room between bites of Chef's paste-like oatmeal.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going back to bed," Duncan said putting his bowl on the counter and leaving the mess hall followed by a few others.

"Aww, no!" Izzy said, frowning, "We're a team, though! We've had so many adventures!"

"We've only been here for two days," Trent pointed out.

"Haha! Yeah, I know. But still! We jumped off a cliff and shot arrows at stuff! We ate marshmallows! You can't beat that kind of bonding. We have to stick together!"

"There is no way I'm spending every day of my summer on lame-o group activities," Heather said. "Come on, Lindsay, I want to work on my tan."

The two girls followed some others out of the mess hall. Soon only Noah and Izzy were left. Noah had his face buried in a dark colored book and didn't seem to care that the others had all left. He was enjoying the peace and quiet when Izzy suddenly popped up behind him, yelling very close to his face.

"Looks like it's just you and me then!" She said as Noah jumped and let out a terrified yelp.

"Give me a heart attack, why don't you," Noah groaned, turning to look at Izzy.

"So what do you want to do today, Noah?"

"Read," He said, picking up his book from where he dropped it.

"Oh, but that's no fun!"

"It is for some of us."

Izzy watched Noah read for a moment before grabbing his book from his hands and running out the door.

"Hey!" Noah called after her, "Give that back!"

"You'll never catch me alive!" Izzy yelled, laughing.

Gwen watched Noah chasing Izzy all around the camp from where she sat leaning against a tree. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the sketchbook in her lap. She was sketching a picture of the dock overlooking the lake when she suddenly felt someone breathing over her shoulder. She looked up to see Cody hovering in her personal space.

"Can I help you?" She asked venomously.

"Oh, don't mind me," Cody said, "I just thought I'd watch you draw."

"Could you maybe take your weird out of my personal space?" Gwen said, getting up and leaving. She relocated to the steps of the girl's cabin and resumed her sketching. As much as this place royally sucked, she had to admit the water did look kind of cool when the sun hit it at just the right angle. If given the option, though, she would never have come here. She didn't even know why she was there, her mom just decided for her and shipped her off. The lack of freedom was easily the worst part. First, she was forced to come to some crummy old summer camp of the coast of who known where, now she's being made to wake up early and participate and bond with two dozen weirdos, assholes, creeps, and mean girls. Speaking of which...

"Could you move?" Came Heather's voice from the doorway.

Gwen looked up for only a moment before turning back to her sketch. "Why would I do that?"

"You're in my way."

"Can't you just go around?"

"No. I want to sit there."

"So sit somewhere else. I got here first."

"Excuse you. I'm trying to work on my tan and that's the spot with the best sun, so move your weird little goth butt so I can sit down."

"Not gonna happen."

"Ugh! How am I supposed to work on my tan when you're taking up the only spot with good sun?"

"I guess you'll just have to work on something else. May I recommend your personality?" Gwen gave Heather a vicious smile.

"If you don't get up in the next three seconds, I swear, I will ruin you!"

"Go ahead. This summer's already ruined as it is, I don't see how it could get any worse."

"Oh really? There's no one who caught your eye in the slightest? No one with a guitar and maybe a few archery tips? You wouldn't care at all if I took that chance away from you?" A cat like grin crossed Heather's face.

Gwen paused for a moment. "I don't know what you're talking about," She said.

"Oh, I think you do. Oh, Trent!" Heather called. Trent looked up from the steps of the guy's cabin where he was working out some chords to a new song.

"Fine!" Gwen said standing up and walking off.

"Nevermind," Heather said to trent and she lounged on the steps.

Gwen sat on the edge of the dock and worked on her sketch. She concentrated on the way the sun reflected off the water. For a few minutes, she actually had some peace and quiet. She felt the warmth of the sun on her face and the cool breeze wafting across the lake.

'If it could just stay like this the whole time,' She thought to herself, 'Maybe I can survive the summer.'

Unfortunately, it didn't even stay like that for another minute. Izzy came running off the dock with Noah close on her tail. She jumped into the water to escape, splashing both Noah and Gwen.

"Izzy!" Noah yelled, "You just got me all wet _and_ ruined my book!"

"Oh no," Izzy said, bobbing in the water, "I dropped your book a long time ago. It's probably fine."

"You what? Then why did you keep running?"

"Because this was fun!" She said, climbing out of the water. "Okay, now you chase me!" Izzy ran off into the distance leaving Noah and Gwen on the end of the dock. Noah sighed and turned to Gwen.

"Sorry about your sketchbook," He said before walking away to look for his own book.

"Yeah," groaned Gwen, "Me too."

Noah did his best to retrace the path he had chased Izzy around. He quickly got frustrated and gave up, deciding to just look everywhere instead. He walked all over camp and eventually found his book tossed carelessly aside around the back of the mess hall. He picked it up and groaned, seeing the pages covered in dirt. He started to walk off when he heard Chris and Chef inside the kitchen through an open window.

"We should record our results this summer," Chris said, "You know, any progress we make in reform or whatever. If they're any good we can include them in next year's pamphlet."

"And if they're bad?" Chef asked.

"Then we leave 'em out."

Noah shook his head, completely disinterested in what they were talking about and walked off to fix his book.

 **Please review, I will love you forever.**


	6. Day 4

**Day 4**

The fourth day of the summer ad arrived and already cliques were forming. Heather had taken Lindsay and Beth as her new best friends, although they looked more like servants. Courtney and Bridgette seemed pretty close, and very open to interacting with others. They often talked or sat with Gwen, Trent, Leshawna, and Geoff. Geoff, of course, would talk to anyone, especially if they had good energy. He was pretty tight with Duncan, DJ, and Owen. Owen, Cody, Tyler, and Noah also seemed to get along well, although Noah often seemed to sit with Izzy and Eva. Cody usually ended up near Harold, Sierra, and Ezekiel, while Owen usually tried to sit near Alejandro, who seemed to get along fine with everyone. Katie and Sadie liked to sit with Justin, who didn't really care who he sat with as long as they thought he was attractive. Of course, there were not so great relationships as well; Gwen didn't seem too fond of Geoff, and Cody annoyed her. Eva had a temper, Katie and Sadie's squealing was a little grating on the ears, and Noah's sarcasm could seem a bit rude. Heather got along particularly poorly with Gwen and Leshawna but was generally a bitch to everyone. While people were generally getting along fairly well, it still felt a bit forced. Everyone was trying to get along for the sake of not spending a summer in a cabin full of your worst enemies. They all sat around the breakfast tables making awkward casual conversation when Chris walked in.

Chris surveyed the tables for a moment. Everyone was present except for Harold, and the boys seemed like they had all slept poorly. Duncan seemed particularly bad and even had his head on the table.

"Duncan!" Chris said, "You look like shit, dude."

"Stuff it," Duncan said, barely looking up.

"Harold snored all night," Geoff said.

"We barely got any sleep," Alejandro added.

"Duncan had it worst of all since Harold's in the bunk right below him. Dude didn't sleep a wink last night."

"Wow," Chris laughed, "How much are you hurting, dude?"

"Wanna find out?" Duncan spat, turning to look up at Chris with a dangerous look in his eyes. Those sitting around him grew a bit uneasy.

Chris immediately backed down. "No, no, it's cool, it's cool," He said calmly.

The door swung open suddenly and everyone gasped as they saw Harold standing in the doorway with a permanent marker mustache drawn on his face. He sauntered in completely unaware. As he sat down, he noticed that everyone seemed to be laughing at something and he couldn't figure out what.

"Okay, what?" He demanded once he realized that everyone's stares were directed at him.

Geoff took pity on him and leaned across the table to whisper to him "Someone messed with your face, dude."

Harold picked up a nearby spoon and examined his reflection. A smile grew across his face. "Hey," He said, "Sweet stache."

At the other table, Heather sat across from Beth and Lindsay.

"Okay," She said, "Let's go over the rules of this friendship one more time. Number one: I am the captain of this friendship, so I get to make the rules. Number two?"

"Breaking the rules Can result in getting kicked out of the friendship," Lindsay supplied.

"Good!"

"Does a friendship really need rules and captains?" Beth asked.

"Of course it does," Heather said, "If it's well structured then we won't have to worry about if it'll fall apart."

"That totally makes sense," Lindsay assured Beth.

"Number three," Heather continued, "I can borrow any of your stuff without asking, but my stuff is strictly off limits."

Lindsay and Beth shared an uneasy look.

"I dunno about that last rule," Lindsay said, turning back to Heather.

"That's cool," Heather said, "I can change it! You can also try to find someone else to sit with, and honestly, I don't see that happening." Lindsay and Beth looked nervously at Heather.

"Okay, campers, listen up," Chris said, positioning himself in the center of the room. "Today's activity starts in ten. And be prepared to bring it!"

Ten minutes later the campers all filed into a clear walled box in the woods. The floor looked like a gymnasium and there were two sets of bleachers off to one side. Duncan was the last to file into the gym.

"Wake me up and it'll be that last thing you do," He said before laying himself across the lowest bleacher and falling asleep.

"Today's activity is a classic game of dodgeball," Chris said, holding up a red rubber ball.

"Ugh," Heather scoffed, "Archery? Dodgeball? What is this, high school gym class?"

"As I was saying," Chris continued, "If you get hit by the ball, you're out." He threw the ball in his hands and hit Courtney square in the stomach.

"Ow!" She cried out, "You can't do that!" She threw the ball back at him.

Chris caught it easily. "If you catch a ball, the thrower is out and the catcher gets to bring one member of their team back out on the court.

"Throwing balls, gee, another mentally challenging test," Noah said, rolling his eyes.

"I know right?" Lindsay said, actually a bit confused by the rules. Noah and Owen exchanged a look.

"For this activity, you'll be split into two teams. We'll keep these teams up for all the other team activities going forward. If I call your name out, go stand by this set of bleachers here. Gwen, Trent, Heather, Cody, Lindsay, Beth, Izzy, Owen, Leshawna, Justin, Sierra, and Noah. From this moment on you are officially known as the Screaming Gophers."

"Yeah!" Owen said, "I'm a gopher!"

"The rest of you, at that set of bleachers over there," Chris continued, "Geoff, Bridgette, DJ, Tyler, Sadie, Katie, Courtney, Ezekiel, Alejandro, Duncan, Eva, and Harold. You guys will be officially known as the Killer Bass."

"Awesome," Harold said, "It's like...amazing."

"You have one minute until game time and then the fun begins."

The teams split off to their sets of bleachers and began choosing who would go first.

"All right," Heather said, taking charge of her team, "Who wants to sit the first round out?"

"All right, I'll volunteer," Noah said, walking over to the bleachers. "Now let's see all you keeners get on out there and dodge."

When it was time for the game to start, each team sent out their first five players. For the Gophers it was Heather, Lindsay, Owen, Leshawna, and Cody. The Bass sent out DJ, Courtney, Alejandro, Tyler, and Harold.

"Bring it on, Fishies," Heather said as the teams lined up for the start of round one.

"Oh, you're going down!" Tyler yelled back at her, "We're gonna bring the dinner to the table and then we're gonna eat it!" The rest of his team looked at him with confusion as to what he could have possibly meant by that.

"Both teams ready," Chris called out from the sideline, "Best of five games wins. Now let's dodge some ball!"

Chef blew his whistle and the game started up.

 **Day four part one, up and ready. Part two on its way later tonight. with more some off script writing. Honestly, Some of these challenges, episodes and moments from the original show work in well , the thing is just finding the right balance. So far it's been more of the original series than I personally like, but as it develops it will get further and further away from that. I just couldn't resist a classic game of dodgeball :)**


	7. Day 4 Part 2

**Day 4 part 2**

Chef blew his whistle and the two teams immediately lunged towards the balls laid out at their feet. The campers on the bleachers cheered for their teams and watched the action intently.

Cody boldly threw the first ball towards Tyler, who dodged it easily. Tyler wound up for a return shot but ended up missing horribly and hitting Sadie sitting on the bleachers.

"Nice job," Alejandro said, "Now let's see if you can hit someone on their team."

As Tyler prepared to throw another ball, Owen did too. Owen threw the ball cleanly across the court and hit Tyler square in the chest. Chef blew his whistle and Tyler was taken out of the round. Play continued.

"Time to unleash my mad skills," Harold declared.

"Yeah? Then bring it, String Bean, let's see what you've got!" Leshawna said, approaching the line.

Harold did a series of elaborate martial arts poses setting up his shot. He threw the ball with confidence and all his might. Unfortunately, it hit the ground directly and bounced over to the other half of the court. Leshawna picked the ball up and smiled deviously at Harold. The threw the ball and easily tagged Harold out. Chef blew his whistle and Harold was taken out of the round.

"And that's how we roll!" She said, retreating farther away from the line and high fiving Owen.

Alejandro hit Lindsay, taking her out of the round, and Courtney almost hit Heather but the ball was intercepted by Owen so she was taken out and Gwen was called in from the Gopher's bleachers. DJ hit Gwen almost immediately and she was sent back out. Shortly after, both Owen and Leshawna were hit leaving only Cody against DJ and Alejandro. The Bass were expecting an easy out, but they had another thing coming. Cody threw the first ball with a wicked spin on it. It flew right over Alejandro's shoulder before curving back and hitting him from behind. The next ball Cody charged up with static electricity by rubbing it against his shirt. When the ball was thrown at DJ he could run as much as he wanted but the ball followed him until he tripped into the wall and got hit. Things were not looking good for the Killer Bass. The teams both huddled up to decide who would play in the next round. After the loss of the first round, Courtney's competitive attitude kicked into overdrive. There was no way she was going to let her team lose, especially not with Heather on the other team. Courtney had dealt with her fair share of Heather's in her time, and she was not looking forward to having one here with her all summer. There was just something about Queen Bee's and Type A's that made their lives very hit or miss. They either got along brilliantly or they couldn't stand each other. There didn't seem to be much in between. From what Courtney could see, she and Heather were not going to be getting along that easily. Alejandro noticed Courtney's anger and followed her glare to Heather. He smiled to himself and moved in on Courtney.

"You know," He said, "Every good team does need a captain. I'm just glad mine's not Heather. A good leader commands attention without having to demand it the way she does."

"Are you nominating yourself?" Courtney asked.

"Oh no, I don't know if I'd be up to it. We would need someone with real passion and inner strength. Someone with a strong competitive drive. Someone like you, maybe."

"You think I should be team captain?"

"Oh, of course! Who else could it be on a team like this?"

Courtney felt herself blushing. Alejandro was very attractive, and, admittedly, she knew his flattery might have been a bit shallow and insincere, but it was nice to hear nonetheless.

"All right," She said, "I'll take over from here."

The two of them marched over to the rest of their team. The others looked up at Courtney and could immediately see that something had shifted. She began giving instructions and no one argued with her.

"All right, Bass," She said, entering the huddle, "We need to step it up. We need teamwork out there. We need hustle, and we need a strategy. We need to adjust our lineup and see what else we're working with here. Eva, you're definitely up. Geoff, Bridgette, you too. Katie, Sadie, do you guys think you can do this?"

"Oh, definitely," Sadie said, nodding, "Like, for sure. I have great aim."

"Great. Just remember, you all have to have each other's backs. Really work together."

"Hey, what about me?" Tyler said. He had been smiling at Lindsay the whole time Courtney was talking, but it eventually registered that he wasn't in her lineup.

"You hit someone on our bleachers then got hit in the first few seconds of the round," Courtney said, "Plus you're not focussed on the game, you just keep staring at that blonde girl, Lindsay."

"I do not! And besides, that throw before was only a warm up. I play tons of sports back home, I can totally carry our team."

"Fine, you can play. Katie, are you okay sitting this one out?" Katie smiled and nodded. "Great. But Tyler, if you blow this again then we're gonna have to sit you out, you got that?"

Tyler nodded. "Just give all the balls to me."

On the other side of the court, the Gophers were putting together their round two lineup.

"Okay, Noah, you're up," Heather said.

"You know, you guys did such an awesome job on the last game that I don't want to mess up your mojo," Noah replied, barely looking up from his book.

"Fine," Heather said. She was starting to get really annoyed with Noah's know it all attitude. Beth raised her hand exuberantly and Heather nodded at her to go join Owen, Trent, Izzy, and Lindsay on the court.

As soon as the starting whistle was blown, Tyler jumped at all the balls on the Bass side of the court and began hurling them in all directions but the right one. They went towards Chef, Chris, and the Gopher bleachers before one finally hit Lindsay.

Tyler was horrified. "No!" He screamed, running to Lindsay's side. He helped her to stand and the two smiled at each other lovingly. Everyone else was absolutely baffled by how oblivious the two seemed about the game still going on around them. Trent walked right up to Tyler and gently tossed a ball at his chest. Tyler and Lindsay were both pulled off the court and sent to their team's bleachers.

The game after that did not go much better. Owen went berserk and got all four remaining Bass members out in moments. Courtney was not happy. They were losing horribly and humiliatingly. She could see Heather and her little puppets taunting them from across the room.

"I'm glad someone is trying today," Heather said, glaring at Noah.

"Oh, sorry, woo hoo! Way to throw those murder balls, go, team, go," Noah said, rolling his eyes and turning back to his book.

"Nice team spirit," Heather said before turning towards the Bass. Hey!" She called, "It's two zero. How does it feel to suck so much?"

"Not very good," Harold mumbled.

"It's not over yet!" Courtney declared, feeling like it was definitely over.

"Don't give up," Alejandro whispered to her encouragingly, placing a hand on her shoulder. Courtney smiled up at him before turning back to her team.

"Okay," She said, "This is really bad. One more game and we lose the whole thing. We can't let that happen, people. We need someone strong, someone mean, someone who will crush those stupid Gophers into the dirt."

Everyone turned to Duncan.

"Oh no. No way. If we wake him up he'll kill us!" DJ said.

"He won't kill us guys. He's all talk," Cortney assured.

"Courtney's right," Harold said, "We need Duncan's fierceness to win this."

"That's the spirit, Harold! Now go wake him up."

"No way! I'm not doing it!"

"Well, who's gonna wake him up?"

After a bit of discourse, the team eventually decided on poking Duncan with a very long stick. It wasn't the most refined method, but, hopefully, it would get the job done. Geoff, Bridgette, Courtney, and Harold held one end of the stick as they prodded at Duncan's face. They were beginning to think that it might not work when suddenly Duncan grabbed the stick. He sat up and snapped it in half. He did not look happy.

"You'd better have a really good reason for sticking this up my nose," Duncan said, getting up in Harold's face.

Courtney rushed up and placed herself between the two boys. "Look," She said, "We are down two nothing. I can appreciate that you need a little nap time, but we need your help."

Duncan crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, and why should I help you, darling?"

"Because if you don't, I'll be sure Chris knows you decided to sit out of his mandatory activity, darling."

"Ooh, scary. What exactly to you think that pretty boy's gonna do?"

"Care to find out?"

Duncan weighed his options and eventually decided it would be best just to play a little dodgeball. "Fine," he said sighing, "I'll play. On one condition: You do what I say when I say it." Courtney nodded in agreement. "Okay, now here's a strategy I picked up during my first visit to juvie. It's called rush the new guy."

The third round began with the Gophers as confident as could be. They expected another easy win like the last two. The Gophers were shocked, however, when the Bass started throwing four balls at the same person all at once. None of them were able to dodge all four balls at once and all five were quickly out of the round. The Bass won the next round in minutes.

"Come on, a little effort out there, people," Noah said, looking up from his book for only a moment. He was met by glares from the rest of his team which he promptly ignored.

The next round was no different. The Bass came together as a team and ganged up on one Gopher at a time. The Gophers lost one member after another and lost the fourth round. The game was now tied. Either team could win, and both wanted to.

"All right, campers," Chris said, walking to the center of the court, "It's the final tie breaking round, so let's make this a little more fun. Everyone out on the court for a little twelve on twelve." Everyone got up and walked onto the court. Chef threw a few more balls into play. Noah sat on the bleachers, still reading his book.

"Incase it was unclear, this round is all in. As in, everyone plays. Including you, Noah, get yourself out here."

Noah looked up and frowned. He set his book down and reluctantly walked onto the court.

"Gophers, Bass, let's send this sample to the lab and see what 'ch made of!" Chris yelled bombastically.

Chef's whistle blew and everyone lunged for the balls. The Bass had to abandon their strategy since there were too many people involved now. As soon as a ball was thrown towards the Gophers, Noah reached an arm out and let it hit him. His team looked at him questioningly as he walked back to the bleachers.

"Sports," He shrugged, "Not my forte."

Play continued.

"Come on, people," Heather called out, "Quick feet, fast hands."

The game was intense as balls were thrown and dodged all across the court. Every once in awhile, someone would get hit and leave the game. The more people were tagged out the more intensely those left wanted to win.

"Knock 'em out, throw 'em out, rah rah," Noah Droned sarcastically from his spot on the bleachers. Suddenly, a stray ball came from somewhere on the court and hit Noah so hard he fell backward off of his seat.

"You're right," Heather said, "Sports aren't your forte."

Back on the court, the game raged on. Cody took a nut shot for Gwen. Geoff dodged one ball only to be immediately by another. Sierra and DJ each threw a ball at each other and each got taken out. Eventually, some of the more skilled players were starting to get taken out. Leshawna, Duncan, and even Eva were all hit. There were only a few campers left out on the court and tensions were running high. It came down to Owen versus Harold. Both teams looked over the court and while the Gophers burst out in cheers over their presumed victory, the Bass deflated. What happened next was not something anyone was prepared for.

"Sorry, dude," Owen said, gathering up the red rubber balls, "But you've gotta go down."

"Goodnight, Harold," Duncan said from the sidelines.

Harold crouched into a martial arts ready stance and waved Owen to begin. Owen threw ball after ball at Harold, but Harold did not get hit. He ducked, weaved, leaped, and twirled out of the way. He even went matrix for one of the balls. The room had fallen dead silent at the sight of such impressive athleticism from someone like Harold. Everyone stared slack jawed in amazement. Courtney called a timeout and pulled the team into a huddle.

"Man, that boy's got dodge! Where'd you learn to do that?" Duncan asked.

"Figure skating," Harold replied.

"Harold, that was awesome!" Geoff said, "But dodging isn't enough."

"He's right," Courtney chimed in, "To win you either have to throw him out-"

"Which we all know you can't do," Duncan added.

"Or catch the ball. Can you do it?"

"Definitely," Harold said.

"Awesome! Now go catch that ball!" DJ Cheered.

As the game was set to resume everyone was on the edge of their seats. Even Noah was completely invested in the outcome. The Gophers cheered Owen on as the Bass chanted Harold's name. Owen wound up his shot and hit Harold so hard he hit the back wall. Everyone fell completely silent as they looked at Harold crumpled in a ball on the floor, holding his arms over his stomach. They couldn't tell if he'd caught it of not. Suddenly, Harold opened his arms and held up the ball. He had caught it! Chef blew his whistle as Chris came out into the middle of the court.

"The Killer Bass win!" He cheered.

The Bass stormed the court cheering loudly. Alejandro and DJ lifted Harold onto their shoulders as the Bass crowded around to congratulate him.

"Nice dodge, skater nerd," Duncan said.

"Gophers, what happened?" Chris asked.

"What can I say? Weak effort," Noah said.

"Oh shut it, Noah!" Gwen spat.

"You know, for once, I agree with her," Heather added.

"All right campers, head to the mess hall for some lunch. The rest of the day is yours," Chris said, "Except for Noah. You'll be spending the rest of the day in solitary confinement in the boat house."

"What?" Noah said, standing up in outrage. The other campers were all completely shocked. "You can't send me into solitary, this isn't prison! What kind of camp is this?"

"Mandatory means mandatory. You didn't participate, so you get a penalty. You'll be let out when it's time for the campfire."

Chef grabbed Noah by the arm and lead him out of the gym, ignoring Noah yelling things like "Let go of me," and "You can't do this." Chef pushed the boy into the boat house and locked the door. Noah could be heard inside yelling to be let out and pounding on the door. The other campers watched in complete discomfort, completely unsure of what to do.

Noah was right: what kind of place was this?

 **Sweet jeans, that's a lot. Let me know what you guys think, I love reading reviews!**


	8. Day 5

**Day 5**

Everyone was a little on edge after Noah got taken away. No one talked about it, but they were all pretty shaken. What kind of summer camp sent people to solitary? Most places would just sit you out of activities or make you help in the kitchen or something if you broke the rules, but solitary? It made them all wonder what would happen next. Noah hadn't said anything to anyone since being let out last night. No one pressed him about what happened.

The next day hadn't held much interest for anyone. They had all stuck pretty close to the cabins. Not even Izzy ran too far off. The day was overcast and cloudy with a small but noticeable chill to the air. The camp was quiet. No one was quite sure of what to do and many of the campers were worried or afraid. Camp Wawanakwa came from completely off the grid very recently and no one had ever heard of Chris or Chef. No one even knew for sure where they were beyond "somewhere in Muskoka" which didn't even make sense given the climate of the island. Noah's punishment made everyone realize that they had almost no information about where they were going to be spending their summer. It shook them all out of the confusion or annoyance of being sent off suddenly and brought to light the danger the situation really presented. Sure, Noah only had to sit in the boathouse all day but his crime was not playing dodgeball. There was really no certainty around what else they may be forced to do.

The somber quiet lasted throughout most of the day and Chris was not happy about it. When the campfire rolled around most of the marshmallows sat untouched and there was still near silence. Everyone seemed to on edge or lost in thought.

"So how was everyone's day?" Chris prompted. He was met with indiscriminate mumbles from the campers in front of him. "I said: how was everyone's day?" He repeated his question louder.

"I want to call my parents," Heather said, "I am not staying here."

The other campers erupted into requests to make a phone call or return home. Chris attempted to calm everyone down.

"All right, all right, look. No one is calling home and no one is leaving until the end of the summer, okay? You're all stuck here whether you like it or not, so you might as well make the most of it. Now I know you're all upset about what happened to Noah yesterday and you're maybe even a little scared, but I want you all to know that I didn't like having to do that. I don't like giving out punishments, but there are rules and if those rules are broken then punishment is in order. If you follow the rules then nothing bad will happen. Break the rules and you'll get sent to solitary. Is that all clear?"

"You can't just expect us to go along with that," Gwen said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Gwen's right," Trent said, "We totally don't know you. We don't know where we are, we don't know what might happen to us. You've gotta understand that we're all pretty freaked out by the fact that you dragged Noah out of the gym and locked him in the boathouse for an entire day."

"He missed two whole meals while he was in there!" Owen declared, horrified.

"This all seems like a little much for a game of dodgeball," Bridgette said.

The others all nodded along in agreement with their fellow campers.

"Listen," Chris said, trying to sound sympathetic, "I get it! You're all surprised, caught off guard, maybe a little miffed."

"Try a lot miffed," Heather spat.

"I get that," Chris continued, "Really I do. I should have been more clear about the rules and potential repercussions, but the fact remains that rules are rules and Noah broke them."

"You locked me in a fucking shed alone all day!" Noah burst out, shooting up from his seat. It was the first thing he had said since his solitary. "There's stuff living in there. Not to mention I passed out from skipping two meals. You can't just do this kind of shit and pretend to act all sympathetic and expect us to just go along with that. What kind of place is this, Chris? Because it sure as hell isn't like any summer camp I've ever heard of."

Silence fell over the group. Chris tried to hide his anger at being yelled at by some insolent teenager. He would've sent Noah straight back to the boat house, but Chris knew it would've caused a revolt. Chris collected his breath and spoke quietly and slowly.

"I think it would be best if everyone returned to their cabins," He said. The campers looked around at each other, not entirely sure what to make of the situation. "That's an order!" Chris said raising his voice. The campers all stood up and started back towards the cabins.

"Man, what's this guy's deal?" Geoff asked, catching up to Bridgette and Courtney.

"Honestly, he kind of scares me," Bridgette said.

"It's one thing to want order, but this crosses some lines," Courtney added.

"What's the matter, Princess? Don't like rules? I'd have thought something like this would be right up your ally," Duncan said, coming up next to Courtney.

"The rules aren't the problem, not even the idea of some sort of punishment. The problem is the extreme nature of it all. Sitting out of activities or helping with chores could be acceptable here. Missing out on the campfire maybe. Even an hour in the boathouse if it had been something really bad. But a whole day of solitary confinement in a pest infested boathouse, plus missing two meals just for sitting out of a few rounds of dodgeball? That's hardly an appropriate punishment."

"You into punishment, Princess? Interesting, I didn't really peg you as the type."

"Ugh! You're repulsive." Courtney just then noticed that Bridgette and Geoff wandered off together while she was talking to Duncan.

"Yeah, yeah. What do you say we sneak off for a bit? Maybe enjoy the stars together?"

"Really? You want to break the rules?"

"I might be known for that."

"Well, I'm not. I'm going to bed."

"Suit yourself," Duncan said as he walked up the steps of the guy's cabin.

"I thought you were going off stargazing or something," Courtney said, a bit confused.

Duncan smirked at her. "Wouldn't be as much fun without you, Princess," He said, winking at her and entering the cabin.

Courtney huffed and walked off towards the girl's cabin. She wanted to scream at him on principle not to call her something like "Princess," but she couldn't seem to get the words out. Maybe part of her liked hearing it. Maybe part of her even liked him.

 **Things are starting to get serious at our little sumercamp. Oh no, oh no.**


	9. Day 6

**Day 6**

Chris called the campers down to the amphitheater immediately following breakfast. Twenty four teenagers trudged through the woods and filed into the bleacher seats. The sun was high and warm, illuminated the wooden stage and long curtains on either side.

"Are we gonna see a musical?" Lindsay chirped, "I love musicals. Especially the ones with singing and dancing." She started to climb the bleachers near where Tyler was sitting but Heather pulled her over to the far side. Lindsay looked confused but blew Tyler a kiss anyway.

Heather, who sat between Lindsay and Beth, noticed Trent waving towards Gwen a few rows down.

"Gwen," He called, "I saved you a seat." Gwen smiled and sat next to him.

'Ugh, she's so weird,' Heather thought, 'And what is up with Trent? Does he actually like her or something? Why?' She watched as Cody sat on Gwen's other side. He looked longingly at Gwen then crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back, emulating the way Trent was sitting. 'Him I understand,' Heather thought as she watched Cody fall between the rows of bleachers.

"Morning, campers!" Chris called from center stage. "Welcome to or brand new, deluxe, state of the art, outdoor amphitheater! Today's activity is a summer camp classic: a talent show! You've all got until after dinner to put together your best act. Sing, dance, juggle, anything goes! As long as it's legal. As a quick reminder, today's talent show is a mandatory activity and required full participation from all campers." Noah scowled and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What if we don't have a talent?" Cody asked, nervously raising his hand.

"Figure something out," Chris said sternly. "See you at show time!" With that, he left, and the campers wandered off back to their cabins.

Chris's announcement was met with mixed reviews. Some campers were excited or at the very least knew something they could do. Others were a bit lost...or entirely lost. Inside the girl's cabin, there were a few sets of hands rummaging through luggage. Katie and Sadie hurriedly searched for the CD with their favorite dance song, wide smiles stretched across their faces. Beth pulled out her set of batons as she babbled away happily to Lindsay about the classes she's been taking. Heather watched as Gwen picked up a small, locked notebook and walked toward the cabin door grumbling to herself.

"Where are you going?" She asked Gwen.

"Anywhere that's not here," She replied.

Gwen was a serious crease in Heather's side. She just had to undermine and scoff at everything Heather said. She was rude and snappy and most of all she wasn't afraid to speak out against Heather. There just couldn't be someone like that walking around unchecked all scowled for a moment before getting an idea. But she'd have to wait for Gwen to put that book down...

"What were you thinking of doing, Courtney?" Bridgette asked. Sitting on Courtney's bad as Courtney sat on the floor in front of her digging through her suitcase.

"I'm going to play my violin," Courtney said excitedly.

"I didn't know you played the violin."

"Yep! I've taken lessons ever since I was six." Courtney pulled her violin case out of her bag and flicked open the locks. She picked up her cherished violin and tucked it under her chin.

Outside, Duncan was watching Geoff practice his skateboard tricks when they heard music lilting out of the girl's cabin. They climbed the steps to the door and peered inside. There they saw most of the girls strewn about the room all looking at one person: Courtney. Sweet violin music swelled through the air all around her as she sat on the floor playing her violin as happy as can be. She was amazing. She was only warming up the strings and her fingers, but she had still managed to captivate the whole room.

"Wow, she's really good," Geoff said.

Duncan stopped himself just before agreeing. "Whatever," Duncan scoffed, walking away from the cabin.

"What?" Geoff followed after him, "Dude she's super cool on that violin."

"She's all right," Duncan said, trying hard to bee cool. Inside he was still marveling over the way Courtney looked sitting cross legged on the floor playing a sweet sounding melody on her violin. She looked so happy, so genuinely happy. Duncan hadn't seen her smile like that. He'd thought she was hot the minute she stepped onto the boat that took them all to the island. He absentmindedly thought about her gorgeous legs wrapped around his waist as he eyed her for most of the trip. This, however, was something completely different. Seeing her smile like that gave Duncan a fluttery sort of feeling. It only lasted for a moment, but he knew exactly what it was. Unfortunately, his pride wouldn't back down that easily.

"Ugh!" Cody cried out, slumping back onto his bed.

"What's the matter, dude?" Owen asked.

"I have no clue what I'm going to do for this talent thing."

"Well, what can you do?"

"Nothing! That's the problem! I can't sing or juggle or do any cool tricks or anything like that. At least not that I know of. I can play piano, but what are the odds of there being a piano here?"

"You never know, they could be hiding one."

"Yeah, I guess. Hey, I'm gonna go for a walk, maybe see what Gwen's up to." Without even waiting for a response from Owen, Cody got up and exited the cabin. As he strolled around the camp he spotted Gwen sitting on a stump. He mustered up his confidence and walked up to where she sat. "What 'cha got there?" He asked, sitting next to her on the stump "A journal?"

"Beat it," She responded bluntly.

"Oh, I get it. It's private. I'm down with that. Yeah. It's cool brah." He waited a moment before leaning over, trying to get a glimpse of Gwen's book to see if it might be another sketch. She was a really good artist. When Gwen noticed Cody hovering over her shoulder she recoiled away from him.

"What part of beat it don't you understand?"

Cody leaned back for a moment but could resist leaning back in to smell Gwen's hair. She jumped off the stump and Cody realized he had crossed a line.

"What are you, some kind of freak?" She asked.

"You just smell really pretty," Cody stammered, feeling embarrassed.

"It's just soap," Gwen said before walking off back toward the cabins.

Cody remained seated on the stump. He felt bad for making Gwen uncomfortable. He felt nervous that he wouldn't find something to do at the talent show. He felt afraid he'd get in trouble. Most of all he felt lonely. Everyone was nice enough for the most part, but Cody wasn't super close to anybody here. Then again he wasn't super close to anybody at home either. Gwen seemed really cool and down to earth and he was hoping he could get close to her, but as of now, that didn't look like a strong possibility.

"Hi, Cody!" Sierra called out from where she sat next to Cody on the tree stump. He hadn't heard her approach and jumped to his feet immediately.

"Agh! Oh, hey, Sierra."

"What are you gonna do for the talent show? I'll bet it's something impressive."

"Oh, yeah, about that. I don't really have a talent. At least not one I can do here. Ugh! If only there was a piano I could use!"

"You play piano?"

"Well, yeah, kinda. We have a piano in my parlor room back home. My mom taught me to play when I was a kid. I play whenever I get the chance."

"Do you want to play piano for the show?"

"Well I would, but where am I gonna find a piano?"

"Follow me!" Sierra shouted, grabbing Cody's wrist and running off.

Dinner that night held an air of excitement to it. Even the people who didn't have immediately apparent talents had managed to get themselves excited for the day's big event. They chattered away as easily as if they'd all known each other for years. Chris watched from the doorway with a smug look on his face. He'd managed to open them all up and calm them down from the past day's unfortunate events. Perfect.

"All right campers," He said, "Let's get the show started!"

The teenagers all stood up and walked over to the amphitheater. They filed into the bleachers buzzing excitedly despite themselves. As much as many of the campers hated to admit it, Chris kind of nailed it on this one. He stepped onto the stage with a bag full of names to call the campers up.

"Is everyone ready?" Chris asked. The teenagers cheered in response. Chris smiled inwardly. He had gotten them back on track and then some. "All righty. The first camper up will be...Beth!"

Chris left the stage as Beth ran up excitedly carrying a baton in each hand. Several of the others cheered her on prepped herself to begin.

One by one, everyone came up and had their moment. Geoff did his skate tricks, Trent sang a song that was probably directed at Gwen, Alejandro and Bridgette had a handstand contest, Izzy did something she called "The Dance of the Rattlesnake" which was mostly babbling nonsense and shifting her weight from foot to foot, DJ did a ribbon dance, Ezekiel repeated the sentence "Welcome to Camp Wawanakwa, enjoy your summer" in eight different languages, Katie and Sadie danced (Sadie even did a split!), Owen downed an entire three liter bottle of soda and burped the alphabet, Sierra did a German inspired dance which was oddly fixated on Cody, Lindsay sang some pop song and butchered the lyrics, Tyler tangled himself up doing yo-yo tricks, Leshawna did some really cheesy outdated dance moves, Justin posed causing everyone else to swoon and stare, and Harold blew everyone away with some completely unexpected and very impressive beatboxing. Then it was Noah's turn. He got to the center of the stage and pulled out three tennis balls. He locked eyes with Chris and started juggling. He kept going and going until Chris finally told him to stop.

"Oh sorry," Noah said, "I just wanted to make sure I was participating enough."

As Noah left to stage, Chris called Gwen up. She carried up a sheet of drawing paper with her finally completed drawing of the lake. "I hope this is okay, it's really the only talent I have," She said just a bit nervously.

"I'll allow it," Chris said. "How 'bout a hand for Gwen!" The others applauded

Duncan rolled his eyes. He was the only one that didn't quite seem in the spirit of things.

"Oh, come on, Duncan," Courtney said, "Why can't you just enjoy something for once?"

"Oh, I can think of a few things I'd enjoy, Princess," Duncan drawled, leaning closer to Courtney.

"Ugh! What's the matter with you?"

"Care to find out?"

Bridgette sensed the tension and decided to intervene. "What are you doing for your act, Duncan?" She asked.

"Don't know yet."

"You don't know?" Courtney was outraged.

"Nope."

"What are you gonna do when Chris calls your name?"

"I'll figure something out."

Chris called for Courtney to perform next. She picked up her violin and climbed the steps up to the stage smiling. When she got to the center she tucked her violin under her chin, took a calming breath, and began playing an intricate Vitali piece that none of the other campers had heard before. They watched Courtney, with varying degrees of intensity. Many were utterly enthralled, but even those that weren't were still highly impressed. The music swelled and flowed through the air as Courtney stood, calmly and carefully playing through each note and chord. She loved her violin and took much pride in her years of practice. Duncan never took his eyes off of her. He tried to hide the panic he felt. Guys with reputations like him didn't fall this hard for girls who wore sweaters and played violin. Even worse, girls who wore sweaters and played violin didn't fall at all for guys like him. Duncan sighed and tucked his feelings away. Courtney's violin solo came to an end and the campers all applauded loudly. Courtney settled back into her seat near Bridgette and Duncan.

"Court, that was amazing!" Bridgette said, cheerfully, "Right, Duncan?"

"Psh," He scoffed, "Whatever."

"What do you mean, 'whatever?' You were watching her wide eyed the whole time she was up there! You must've been at least a little impressed."

Courtney and Duncan both blushed feverishly as Chris returned to center stage and reached into his bag. Only four names remained and only three of those people knew what they were going to do. Chris pulled out a little slip of paper and read off the name: "Duncan!"

Duncan knew he had no plan. He had spent the whole day not making a plan and he sat through dinner and almost the entire show without a plan. As he was walking up the steps he still didn't have a plan, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to a place higher than mid concern. He stood on stage looking out at the expectant faces of his fellow campers, and only when he turned to look at Chris did he realize how badly he had screwed up. He was getting thrown in solitary for sure. He looked around for something to possibly throw together, hoping to get by on what would obviously be the bare minimum. He noticed some scrap lumber sitting in the wings and rushed over to get himself a good sized piece. He came back out onto the stage, pulled out his switchblade, and got to work. Everyone in the bleachers looked around at each other, confused. Duncan worked for about a minute and a half before holding up his finished product. Neatly carved across the board was the words "Camp Wawanakwa" with a few trees on either side. He looked to Chris who looked contemplative.

"I'll allow it," Chris finally said, "If you let us have the sign."

"Done," Duncan responded, tossing the board to Chris and sauntering back over to the bleachers.

"Duncan, that was way too close," Courtney scolded.

"Were you worried about me, Princess?" He shot back.

"No! Of course not."

"Heather, you're up next!" Chris called. Heather smiled her most devious smile and climbed onto the stage. She sat delicately in a chair that had been placed in the center.

"Originally, I was going to dance for you," She said a little too sweetly, "But instead, I'd like to celebrate friendship with a collaboration." Heather shot Gwen a devilish look as she held up Gwen's diary. Gwen recognized it and immediately began to panic.

"She wouldn't!" Gwen gasped. What would she read? When had she even found it?

Heather flipped to her desired page and continued. "So, with words by Gwen, Performance by me, enjoy. 'Okay, so I'm trying to ignore him, but he's just so cute! If they had custom ordered a guy to be a distraction for my here it would've been McHotty. "We just totally connect. I feel like he's the only one I can talk to here and I know it's a cliche, but I love guys who play guitar." Many eyes turned to Trent and his guitar. Gwen slid to the end of the bleachers and ran off before Chris noticed. Heather watched Gwen satisfied and closed the book. "Thank you!" She said, before returning to her spot on the bleachers.

"That was so mean!" Courtney huffed.

"Seriously," Bridgette agreed.

"Well then, it's down to the final act of the night," Chris said, returning to the stage. "Give it up for Cody!" Sierra jumped to her feet and ran behind the curtain. Cody nervously walked up and waited silently on stage. When Sierra finally managed to finish pushing out a small piano that had been stored backstage, she ran back to her seat on the bleachers and Cody sat down behind the piano. He looked out to the audience, took a deep breath, and began to play. It was a very intense Chopin piece that was simple but carried a very dark tone that no one had quite expected from Cody. The other teenagers watched as Cody had completely tuned out the world around him and immersed himself in the piece. When he finished he let out a breath and looked out at his fellow campers. They all cheered wildly for him and he felt a warm feeling grow in his chest. He smiled and strutted off stage, his confidence renewed.

"Let's give another round of applause for everyone!" Chris called. The campers all cheered for each other and Chris ushered them all over to the campfire where they all happily picked at marshmallows.

Gwen, who was sitting against a wall in the girl's cabin feeling utterly humiliated, heard the commotion as the crowd moved closer to the cabins. There was nothing she wanted to do less than go see any of the others ever again, but she knew she'd get in trouble if she didn't show up at Chris's precious campfire. She thought of skipping and just taking whatever penalty that jerk could dish out, but then an idea struck her. She got up and marched over to the firepit. Everyone was so wrapped up in their own conversations that they didn't even notice her. She found Harold and tapped him on the shoulder so he would turn to look at her.

"Did you say you brought a red ant farm with you?" She demanded.

"Yes," Harold answered.

Now it was Gwen's turn to feel devious.


	10. Day 7

**Day 7**

The next day, Gwen stayed in bed during breakfast. She didn't get up for lunch either. What she really needed was somewhere to escape to without having to face anyone else for a while, but since everywhere in this godforsaken summer camp was entirely public, Gwen could do little more than stay in bed and avoid eye contact. At around one in the afternoon, Leshawna hit her last straw. She sat on the edge of Gwen's bed and shook her awake.

"Girl, you need to get up," Leshawna said.

"No," Gwen groaned, her back still to her friend.

"Laying around and moping over yourself isn't going to help anything. What you need is something to take your mind off of all Heather's bullshit. What you need is a girl's day."

"Girl's day? Not really my thing."

"Are you telling me you couldn't even do with a new coat of black nail polish? Because I know I'm starting to chip."

"Well...I guess..."

"You hang tight. I'll gather up the others- minus Heather!

Leshawna found her way to the other female campers and told them about her idea for the day. The girls had seemed fairly on edge around each other the past week. Some of the personalities just struck some foul notes. But when Leshawna brought up a day for nails, moisturizer, and exchanging favorite tips and tricks they all saw it as an opportunity to both defuse some of the tension among them and to have a bit of fun. After a few minutes, nine girls were gathers in their cabin. Leshawna had invite Beth and Lindsay, but since Heather wasn't invited there was no way she was allowing Beth and Lindsay to go.

Gwen sat on her bed and leaned against to wall, pulling her knees into her chest.

"Girl, get in the spirit of things! Get your nails did! Put on some moisturizer or something!" Leshawna said.

"I don't know, Leshawna," Gwen replied, "I don't think-"

"I love your hair color!" Sierra chirped, coming up and sitting on the edge f Gwen's bed, "Do you do it yourself or do you get it done somewhere?"

"I do it myself, usually."

"I've been wanting to do mine myself forever, but I never got around to finding a brand that sold the right shade of purple. I finally went looking around when I found out I'd be away all summer since I wouldn't be able to go anywhere to get it done, but I'm not entirely sure how it works since I've never done it before. When I need to dye it do you think you could show me how?"

"Oh! Well, sure, I guess. When's the last time you got it done?"

"A few weeks ago. I shouldn't need to touch it up for a while."

"Well let me know when. I'll totally help you."

"Thanks! I was super happy to see someone else with colored hair at camp. I was always the only one growing up so I was kind of the weird girl."

"I know the feeling. My friends and I from back home were the only ones in town with unnatural hair colors so we got all the sideways looks and lame remarks. At least we were a little group, though, I couldn't imagine being alone."

"You get used to it after a while."

Leshawna smiled and joined some of the other girls doing moisturizers.

The girls all spent the day doing each other's hair, borrowing nail polish colors, sharing stories, and getting to know each other. They had all gone into Leshawna's girl's day idea hoping to bond, but they hadn't expected to hit it off so well.

"I wish Lindsay and Beth were with us!" Katie said, swiping pink nail polish across her toes.

"Omigosh, me too!" Sadie agreed, popping blueberries into her mouth "They seem like so much fun!"

"Yeah, well, they're not going to get very far with Heather hanging over their heads," Courtney said, matter of factly

"She's no good for them," Bridgette added.

"That spoiled little daddy's girl's no good for anyone," Leshawna said.

Hums of agreement filled the room as the other girls nodded their heads.

"Well, sucks for her," Gwen said, "'Cause now we've all got friends and she's got some girls she scares into following her who'll wise up sooner or later and ditch her sorry ass." The others all smiled and turned back to their stories and activities.

Later that night at the campfire the boys were all confused to see the girls all suddenly acting like best friends. They shook their heads and chalked it up to some weird girl thing they'd never understand. Beth approached the nearby table to pick up another marshmallow. Leshawna met her there.

"Yo, wassup girl?" Leshawna said.

"Oh, hey," Beth replied, "It looks like you all had fun."

"Yeah, we sure did. You should'a been there."

"I wish I could've been but Heather said it was against the rules."

"A friendship with rules is bad news, girl. You could do a lot better, trust." Leshawna returned to the others. Beth poked her stick through her marshmallow and walked over to the fire. As she roasted her treat she overheard Chris talking to Chef.

"I don't know what happened," Chris said, "But this is gonna be great for us. I mean just imagine when their parents pick them up! We turned a cabin full of girls into best friends, they'll be begging to come back next summer. That means more money for us."

"I thought the plan was to help 'em out," Chef said.

"Yeah, that too. That's a bonus, I guess."

Beth felt confusion and concern growing inside her chest. She thinking about telling someone what she'd heard when her marshmallow caught fire and she ran to put it out.


	11. Day 8

**Day 8**

The next day, Chris didn't call the teenagers together until after lunch.

"Campers," He said once everyone was gathered around the campfire pit, "Today's activity will test your outdoor survival skills. I'm not gonna lie to you, some of you may not come back alive." At that, several campers gasped and concerned murmurs could be heard. "I'm just joking!" Chris continued, "This should be perfectly safe."

"Should be?" Owen questioned.

"You'll all be spending a night in the woods!" Chris exclaimed.

"What, like this isn't outdoorsy enough?" Heather snapped. "I am not sleeping in the woods." She glared at Lindsey and Beth until they chimed in.

"Oh yeah, there's no way I'm doing that," Lindsey said.

"I would never," Beth added.

"May I remind you all that this is a _mandatory_ activity day? And all those who chose not to participate will be punished?"

Lindsey and Beth turned to look at Heather, unsure of what to do next.

"Ugh, fine, whatever," Heather grumbled.

"Great! All you kids will need is at your campsite in the forest. You just have to find it." He handed around a few maps and compasses.

"You mean you're not taking us there?" Alejandro asked.

"Wasn't planning on it," Chris said. "No campfire tonight. At least not here. I'll see you all tomorrow morning. Oh, and watch out for bears. Well, off you go." With that, Chris left the campfire pit.

The campers all looked around to each other.

"So, what do we do?" Lindsey asked.

"If he's not coming with us we should just stay here," Heather said, scratching at her bug bites.

"There's no way we'd get away with staying in the cabins," Courtney pointed out. "They're not dumb enough not to think that's the first thing we'd think of."

"No other place has any supplies," Trent said, "I think our best bet is gonna e to try and find this campsite."

"But what if we get lost, eh?" Ezekiel asked.

"If it starts getting late and we still haven't found it then we'll try heading back," Bridgette said.

"I don't know, this still sounds like a bad idea to me," DJ said.

"Didn't he say there are bears up in here?" Leshawna asked.

"Oh! This one time I saw a bear eating our neighbor's garbage and he had these old spaghetti noodles hanging from his big, huge teeth and it looked like blood and guts. It was so gross! And we thought he was eating our neighbor's cat Simba, but it turned out he was just lost for a week. You didn't eat spaghetti, did you?"

"Come on guys," Geoff said encouragingly, "This could be super fun!"

The others all mumbled as they thought it over.

"Fine," Courtney said, "Let's get going then."

The campers all stood from their seats and followed Courtney as she unfolded the map. The campers clumped together in groups and talked among themselves. Courtney, Geoff, and Bridgette took the lead with the maps and compasses. Gwen hung just behind them, walking alone.

"Hey, Gwen, wait up," Trent called, catching up to her, "Can I walk with you?"

"No," Gwen grumbled.

"Hey, if this is about that whole diary thing-" Gwen cut Trent off by walking faster to pull ahead of the group and away from the others.

"Ugh," Heather moaned, "She is so dead."

"Who?" Trent asked.

"Who do you think? She dumped Harold's red ant farm into my bed."

"Yeah, but you did real her diary out loud in front of everyone."

Heather stopped abruptly causing a collision among the people walking behind her. "So?" She demanded.

"So that was pretty harsh."

"She is going down!" And with that, Heather stomped away.

As the group continued down the trail, one of the bushes in particular caught Katie's eye.

"Oh my gosh, Sadie look! Blueberries!" She squealed.

"I love love love blueberries!" Sadie replied.

After quite a bit of walking, many of the campers began to grow restless.

"Hey, Princess, are we almost there yet?" Duncan called from just behind the three leaders.

"When we get there you'll know," Courtney responded.

"That doesn't exactly answer my question. How long have we been walking, anyway?"

"How am I supposed to know that, Duncan?"

"I don't know, guess? It feels like hours."

"It feels like longer every time you open your mouth."

Duncan started to respond but was cut off by Bridgette calling back to the rest of the group "We're here!"

"Awesome!" Owen cheered, rushing up to the clearing. There were a few blankets, two small tents, and two sleeping bags.

"Great," Courtney sighed, "I'm sure this will be perfect for twenty four teenagers to spend the night."

"What's for dinner, woman?" Duncan asked, leaning into Courtney, "I'm starving."

"I hope you don't expect me to dignify that with a response," She spat back.

"Uh...there's no food here," Owen pointed out.

"Ugh! That's just great!" Heather moaned, "First they make us sleep in the woods, then they give us like two blankets, and now there's no food. This can NOT be happening!"

"Calm yourself, Heather," Alejandro said, "I'm sure they would not have put us in any sort of position we couldn't easily survive in.

"I think I hear a river nearby, eh," Ezekiel pointed out.

"We could try to catch some fish," Sierra added."

"I'll go! I'm great at catching fish," Owen said. He walked off toward the river followed by Ezekiel, Sierra, and Izzy.

"Well," Said Heather, "At least this will be a good week for my diet."

"While they do that, we should probably set up these tents and get a fire going," Harold suggested.

While some campers moved to set up the tents, Courtney, Alejandro, Cody, and DJ went to gather some wood for a fire. Seeing Courtney go compelled Duncan to follow. The campers who weren't working sat around the clearing and talked or complained among themselves while the others worked. Geoff and Bridgette were securing the tarp over one of the tents when Geoff turned to Bridgette.

"Wow," He said, "You pitch a tent like a guy."

The look on Bridgette's face clearly conveyed her confusion and mild offense at the boy's statement.

"I mean You're not all girly about getting dirty and stuff," Geoff said, trying to recover from his previous comment.

"Gee, thanks," Came Bridgette's unamused response.

As the campers collecting firewood came trickling back, Duncan pulled out his lighter and they began setting up a campfire. DJ was the last to return. In his hands, there was no firewood, but instead a small rabbit.

"Hey guys, look what I found!" He said cheerfully.

"I've never had rabbit stew before, but what the heck, I'm game," Duncan said.

DJ was appalled that Duncan would even suggest something like that. "This is my new pet! I'm calling him bunny."

"Ugh, I'm starving!" Heather moaned from her spot next to the fire. "Where are those losers from the river?"

"I think my stomach just ate my stomach," Lindsay added.

Just then, Owen and his crew returned from the river with about fourteen fish between them.

"I am man! I bring fish!" Owen chanted.

"All right, way to go guys!" Trent cheered.

"How do you know how to fish?" Heather questioned.

"My grandpa taught me," Owen replied, "I caught a shark once, it bit me in the butt. Check it out!" Owen dropped his shorts and the other campers all recoiled and covered their eyes.

"Can we all calm the heck down and start getting this fish cooked?" Leshawna said. "And Owen, honey, keep your shorts on."

Once the campers had cooked up the fish and had their fill, they sat around the campfire together unsure whether to talk or just remain quiet. After a few minutes of watching the fire, Trent decided to break the silence.

"Nice going with the fish, guys. It was awesome."

"Thank Owen," Sierra said, "He did most of the work."

"That guy really knows how to fish, eh," Ezekiel added.

"I owe it all to grandpa," Owen said.

"Are you two close?" Cody asked Owen.

"Oh yeah, real close. We even fought a bear once!"

"Really? You fought a bear?" Trent asked.

"Heck yes. It was the scariest day of my entire life. We were out in the woods when we came upon the great beast. I tell ya he was ten feet high if he was a foot! And he roared his terrible roar. RAWR! We grabbed our shotgun. We knew it was either him or us. Nothing personal, just the law of the wild. And then: BAM! One shot was all it took to fell the great beast. We took his blood and marked ourselves to honor him. It was a good death."

"Yeah right!" Heather spat when Owen finished. "There's no way you took down a ten foot bear."

"Leave the big guy be," Geoff said.

Off in the distance an owl could be heard softly calling out. Bridgette tensed up immediately at the noise.

"Be cool," DJ said, petting Bunny "It's just an owl."

"Sorry, I just get really freaked out in the woods," Bridgette replied.

"This reminds me of this really scary story I heard once," Duncan said.

"Awesome. Tell it, man," Geoff insisted.

"You sure? Because the story I'm thinking of is pretty intense."

"Ooh, we're so scared," Courtney said mockingly.

"Okay. But don't say I didn't warn you. One night, a lot like this one..."

As Duncan spun his story, the other campers sat enthralled and captivated by his words. It was amazing how much the eerie stillness of the woods hung onto every word he said, intensifying the anxiety swelling up inside the camper's minds. Duncan's simple story was sending chills around the campfire and spread fear across the faces of the other teenagers. By the time he started nearing the end they were all ready to jump.

"So suddenly, they heard this tap tap tapping on the side of the car. The girl started to freak out and by this time even the guy was getting a bit scared. So he turned the car on and stepped on it. When they got back to the girl's house she opened the door and screamed because there, hanging from the door handle, was the bloody hook. They say that this killer is still alive, wandering these very woods. He could be just about anywhere really. Maybe ever right HERE!" Duncan pulled his hand out from behind his back to reveal a metal hook. The campers all screamed and many jumped or hid behind each other. Duncan cackled in laughter.

"Duncan!" Courtney scolded, "That was so not funny!"

"Oh yes it was! I just wish it was all on camera."

"You are so vile. Do your parents even like you?"

"I don't know, Jumpy McChicken, I haven't asked them lately."

In the distance, a wolf howled and Courtney, still shaken by Duncan's story, subconsciously curled herself into Duncan's arms. It took Duncan a moment to realize what had happened, but when everything registered, Duncan looked up to Geoff, who gave him an approving thumbs up.

"Hey," Sierra said, drawing everyone's attention, "If we were at Chris's campfire back at the campgrounds, do you think we'd be talking to each other this much?"

The others thought about that for a moment. Geoff spoke up first.

"Well maybe," He said, "We talk sometimes."

"Yeah, but sometimes we only really talk to like two other people and just ignore the rest," Lindsay countered.

This caused everyone to think a while longer.

"I like it better when we all talk to each other," Sierra said.


	12. Day 8 Part 2

They had been walking for hours trying to find where the other campers had gotten to.

"Katie, look!" Sadie exclaimed, "The tree with the fork in it! That's good, right?"

"No," Katie replied, exasperated, "That's not good. That's the same tree we passed three hours ago! We just walked in a gigantic circle!"

"Ugh! You don't know where we are, do you?"

"Yes! Okay, no. But it's so not my fault. Have you ever noticed that all trees look the same?"

"Ooh, I knew I should've known better than to listen to you!"

"What, you don't think I'm smart enough to find the others?"

"Well, you're not exactly the best with, like, directions."

"Yu-huh I am!" Katie said indignantly.

"Nu-uh! Apparently, you're not because we're L-O-S-T. Lost!" Sadie stalked off further into the woods. Katie stormed after her.

The two had gotten separated from the other campers and had spent the past few hours wandering the unfamiliar woods by themselves trying to find the others, or better yet a way back to camp. It was beginning to grow dark and there was still no sign of anything but trees. The two self proclaimed "BFFFLs" were growing frustrated, and that frustration was starting to manifest itself towards each other. As they wandered the unfamiliar woods, the two girls began to bicker.

"Well at least I know how to drive, you...you...Have-to-Walk Girl!" Katie spat, "Now who's smarter?"

"Trip to the beach last year ring a bell?" Sadie retorted.

"Oh, I can't believe you're bringing that up. I did have a totally fetch bikini on that day though."

"You drove my mom's car into a snack shack!"

"It was totally in my blind spot. Whatever. If it wasn't for me you'd be riding the bus to the mall."

"Well, if it weren't for me you wouldn't be able to find your way to the mall."

"Oh, I know my way to the mall."

"You lean on me. If it wasn't for me you wouldn't have half the friends you do now."

"You're just saying that because I'm prettier than you are."

Sadie gasped. She couldn't believe Katie actually said that to her face. "I knew you thought that!"

"It's true," Katie said, turning her back on Sadie, "Everybody thinks so."

Sadie felt absolutely crushed. Just hours before the two girls had been telling each other how pretty they were. Katie was supposed to be her Best Female Friend For Life. How could she say something like that? "That's it," she yelled, "When we get back to camp we are so splitting up as BFFFLs!" She turned her back and walked away.

"Fine," Katie yelled, following after her.

"Double fine!"

The two walked in tired, frustrated, heartbroken silence as the woods around them got incredibly dark. They both wanted to apologise but didn't know what to say. They'd never fought before and they didn't know what to do after. They were so used to being practically the same person that this was entirely new territory for them. The pair of girls wandered through the woods in deadening silence for quite sometime before the loud hooting of an owl woke them both out of their thoughts. At the sound of something else out there in the woods, the two girls both shrieked and ran off. They had no idea where they were going to go to until they spotted a cave and both had the idea to take cover there.

"We'll be safe here until morning," Katie huffed, trying to catch her breath.

Just then, a bat swooped down towards Sadie who screamed again and ran off to the far corner of the cave to take cover. She pulled her knees close to her chest and muttered to herself "We're going to die here," over and over until she eventually fell asleep.


	13. Day 9

**Day 9**

The sun rose into the sky, twisting and turning its way around leaves and branches to find the sleeping campers. As the light found them, the teenagers began to stir, slowly pulling open their tired eyelids and pushing themselves off of the ground. DJ, Alejandro, and Sierra were the first few to wake. They tried to be quiet since the others all appeared to still be asleep. Alejandro glanced around and noticed that Heather had taken custody of the map. He crept over to where she slept.

"What are you doing?" Sierra asked.

Alejandro only shushed her in response as he attempted to pull the map from Heather's hand. Sensing the movement, Heather jolted awake and pulled the map farther out of Alejandro's reach.

"What do you think you're doing?" She snapped, waking Lindsay, Beth, and a few others nearby.

Alejandro motioned for her to be quiet, "Keep it down! The others are asleep still."

"So what?"

"So, not everyone can be as naturally breathtaking as you. They need their beauty sleep." Heather mulled over Alejandro's words, huffed, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I just wanted to look at the map to begin tracking our way back home," Alejandro said, "I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to get out of these woods as soon as possible.

"That's for sure," Bridgette added in a hushed tone from where she and Geoff sat nearby, "I get so freaked out in the woods!"

Behind them, Izzy fell from a tree with a loud thunk, waking a few more campers.

"Izzy!" Owen called, rushing to her side, "Are you okay?"

"Kay, I don't know how raccoons sleep in trees because I am so stiff!" Izzy replied.

"They must be really limber."

"Would you two just shut it all ready?" Heather called.

A few feet away, Courtney began to stir. Duncan watched as the girl sleepily cuddled closer to his chest. She may have rolled over and snuggled up to him while she was sleeping last night, and he may have let her. He may have also liked it.

"Morning, Sunshine," Duncan drawled as Courtney's eyes began to flutter open.

After only a moment, Courtney registered the position she was in and pushed herself up off of the boy. "Omigosh, eww!" She cried, jumping to her feet as Duncan sat up. "You were cuddling me!" She said pointing at him accusingly.

"I was calmly lying on my back and trying to catch a few z's," Duncan retorted, "You were snuggling up to me."

"You are such an ogre."

"I've been called worse," Duncan said, lying back down.

Courtney huffed indignantly, stomping her foot.

"Would you two lovebirds keep it down?" Noah asked. The last of the campers were starting to wake up.

"Can we just go?" Courtney asked. Duncan couldn't help but think she sounded almost...defeated? "I don't want to be out here anymore."

"Yeah, seriously," Bridgette agreed, "I hate the woods."

"The ladies are right," Alejandro said, if everyone's awake we should gather our belongings and leave. The sooner we get back to camp the better."

"Why," asked Sierra, "So we can scatter ourselves and go back to barely speaking?"

No one answered her as they all looked away from each other and shuffled around gathering their things.

Little ways away in the forest, Katie and Sadie stretched out on the floor of the cave they had spent the night in.

"Ugh, is it morning yet?" Katie groaned.

Oh, I think that was the worst night of my entire life," Sadie said. She yawned before continuing, "It was even worse than the night that I went out with that guy with the manky bad breath because he ate those sausages at that place, and...What?" She noticed that Katie was staring at her. She seemed about to cry. Suddenly Katie burst into tears and threw her arms around Sadie, who followed suit as Katie spoke.

"Oh, Sadie! I'm so sorry I said I was prettier than you!"

"And I'm so sorry I brought up the snack shack!"

"And I'm so sorry I said your butt was too big to fit in the buss seats!"

"You did?" Sadie asked, pulling away.

"Umm...well not to your face," Katie responded with a nervous smile.

"Oh, who cares! You're my best friend and I love you!" She cried as she wrapped her arms around Katie once more.

"Oh, I love you too!"

The two started squealing with glee over their newly rekindled friendship.

The rest of the teenagers walking back to camp hear a muffled ruckus through the trees.

"Um, does anyone else hear that?" Cody asked.

"Hey, maybe it's those two other girls, eh?" Ezekiel offered.

"What other girls?" Heather snapped, tired and annoyed.

"You know, the ones that are dressed the same all the time," The boy continued, trying desperately to remember their names.

"You mean Katie and Sadie?" Harold offered, "But they're right..." He trailed off as he looked through the cluster of campers around him. "Hey, where are Katie and Sadie?"

"When's the last time anyone saw either of them?" Bridgette asked. The other campers just shrugged and looked around. "Omigosh!" Bridgette said, dashing off in the direction of the squeals.

"Bridge, wait up!" Geoff called, running after her. The others all followed close behind.

Bridgette and the others burst through the trees near the opening of the cave and Kate and Sadie looked up. The two girls jumped to their feet full of relief.

"You found us!" Katie cried, "We're saved!"

"Omigosh, guys, we got totally lost and got in this massive fight."

"And it was so dark and scary and we were like so mad!"

"But then we made up and now you found us!"

"Uhh, that's great," Noah said, rolling his eyes, "But can we get going? I'd like to eat something we didn't find on the ground if that's okay with you two."

The two girls nodded and the group of exhausted teenagers made their way slowly back to camp. Be the time they arrived back at the fire pit it was almost one in the afternoon.

"Hey, there you all are," Chris said as the campers lumbered over, "I was starting to wonder if I'd have to send chef out after you."

"These woods aren't exactly easy to navigate with an unlabeled map," Alejandro groaned.

"Yeah, guess not. But, you're all back now safe and sound, and that's what counts. Chef's got lunch in the mess hall if you want it. I'll see you all back here tonight for the campfire."

As the campers all shuffled away in their own directions, Sierra lingered for a moment, watching sadly as everyone went off in their own directions.

"Hey," Cody said, nudging her side, "I like it better when we all talk too. Some of these guys just...don't get along. We've still got a whole summer though, I'm sure they'll warm up...eventually." Sierra smiled widely after the boy before catching up with him on his way to the mess hall.

Later that night everyone gathered at the campfire. They chatted among their small groups and soaked in the warmth of the fire.

"Attention please," Chris said, standing next to the marshmallow table, "Chef says it's going to rain tomorrow."

"I can feel it in my knees," Chef added, standing next to Chris.

"Regardless, we'll still be having our scheduled activity.

"Seriously?" Cody exclaimed.

"Yes," Chris drawled, "You had one yesterday so you'll have another one tomorrow."

"Yesterday's activity took up a whole lot of today," Leshawna groaned.

"Don't 'cha think we could have a break?" DJ asked.

"Let me think..." Chris said, "No. Tomorrow morning, bright and early."

"Uh uh," Heather spat, "I don't think so."

"That's fine," Chris nodded, "You can spend the day in the boat house if you'd prefer it. I don't think I need to remind you who's in charge here. You can't just ask your friend Noah if you want. Tomorrow morning. Be there. Now, go back to your conversations."

The campers all groaned and complained to each other about Chris and his rules. Duncan glanced away from Geoff and DJ for a moment and noticed a certain brunette slipping away toward the cabins. Without a word of explanation, Duncan got up and followed Courtney to where she sat on the steps of the girl's cabin. She was swatting at bugs when he sat a few feet away from her on the steps.

"Ugh, what do you want now?" She groaned as Duncan sat down.

"I figured you and I could do with a little alone time after last night, Princess," he said, leaning closer to her."

"As if. I was totally asleep at the time of the alleged 'cuddling' and therefore completely unconscious. So it's like it never happened."

"Oh please, you were itching to curl up in my arms the whole night. You totally want me."

"I do not! Besides, you're the one who's always following me around. It's completely obvious that _you_ want _me._ " She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away.

"Maybe I do," Duncan said, shrugging.

"Wait, what?" Courtney turned back, waiting for Duncan to elaborate, but he simply shrugged again. "Oh..well..."

"I'm sorry I scared you," Duncan said.

"What?"

"Last night, around the fire. I'm sorry I scared you."

Courtney scoffed. "I was not scared. It was completely circumstantial. And there is no such thing as a hook man."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Or ARE YOU?" Duncan pulled out the hook prop and Courtney screamed, drawing the attention of a few people around the fire who called over asking if she was all right. Courtney's face turned red under a fierce blush at being caught scared again. She let out an indignant huff as she pushed herself up from the stairs.

"I hate you!" She called behind her as she stormed into the girl's cabin.

"She so doesn't hate me," Duncan said to himself. He leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head when he felt something very sharp on the back of his neck.


	14. Day 10

**Oh, hey, I still exist.**

 **Day 10**

Having lived on his family's farm his whole life, Ezekiel wasn't exactly what anyone would consider "socially ept." When his parents told him they were sending him to summer camp with other people his age he was ecstatic. Ezekiel had never actually met anyone else his age. His town was large, but the people were few and far between. He'd met other people, sure, but they were all older or younger than him, and they lived a ways away from him. He was excited to meet other teenagers and interact with them. It has since proven to be significantly more difficult than he had expected.

The campers all sat in the craft tent listening to the rain pound against the fabric roof. Chris sat near the wall absentmindedly flipping through some celebrity gossip magazine. The tent was fairly small for such a large group and barely housed four tables seating six campers each. They sat begrudgingly piecing together paper mache creations. At Ezekiel's table was also Noah, Eva, Izzy, Tyler, and Sierra. Ezekiel sat quietly, trying to think of the perfect opening line. Something cool that would impress them and make them want to be his friends immediately.

"So," He said, getting their attention, "What's everyone making?" Fuck. That was dumb. That was dumb. He shouldn't have said that.

"I'm making a crown for when I take over the island, ruling over all its inhabitants forever!" Izzy said, climbing on the table placing the wet, unfinished crown on her head. The rest of the room went silent for a moment staring at her.

"Hey, that's really cool, yo," Ezekiel said when Izzy climbed down. "I'm making a boat."

"You should equip it with cannons so you can aid my artillery for the hostile takeover! You'll all be my right hand knights!"

"Yeah, thanks but no thanks," Noah said.

"If you think I'm following you then you're crazier than you look," Eva snarled before turning away.

"Ha, you'll regret that once I'm the Island King," Izzy said cheerfully.

"I like your boat," Tyler said, looking at Ezekiel's paper mache.

"Thanks. I work a lot with my hands back home."

"Sports?"

"Huh? No, I live on a farm with my parents. I help with all the field work with my dad. So my mom can stay inside to do the cooking and stuff."

"She doesn't work in the field too?"

"No, it's man's work. Heavy lifting and everything."

"Excuse me?" Eva cut in, "You wanna say that again, farm boy?"

"The field work is for the men. Women can't handle that sort of hard labor and heavy lifting and everything."

Eva reached over and grabbed Ezekiel around the neck, lifting him easily. "What were you saying about lifting, ya little punk?"

"Eva, drop him right now!" Chris called, moving toward their table. The situation had drawn the attention of the other campers as well.

"Not a chance," Eva growled, tightening her grip.

Chris and chef rushed over to pull her off of Ezekiel who fell to the floor upon his release. Tyler and Sierra crouched around him to check that he was all right.

"Still think women are weak, homeschool?" Eva yelled as Chef pulled her toward the door of the tent, "I'll show you what real strength looks like!"

"Eva, the only thing you'll be doing is spending a little quality time in the boathouse. Chef, take her to cool down. We'll see if we can let her out later." He turned to Ezekiel. "You okay or do you need medical?"

"I think he looks okay," Tyler supplied.

"His breathing seems fine but-" Sierra started before being cut off.

"Great! Everyone back to your crafts," Chris said, returning to his magazine.

"But, Chris, I think that maybe he should-"

"You said he's breathing, right?"

"Well, yeah, but he was just-"

"Good enough for me. Everyone back to your crafts." Chris pulled the magazine up to his face and that was the end of that.

"Great," Heather groaned, "Just great. Not only are we trapped on this stupid island with a psycho crazy camp counselor, but they're walking among us, too."

"Something feels off about this camp," Alejandro said, eyeing Chris suspiciously.

"Yeah," Heather spat, "It's full of creeps and crazies."

"No, I mean something doesn't feel right about this place. About the island, about Chris, any of it."

"A few nights ago at the campfire I overheard Chris talking to Chef," Beth said, "They didn't exactly say anything bad, but it just...it felt like they were hiding something."

"See, that's what I'm talking about!"

"You think they're hiding something from us" Owen asked.

"Maybe, I don't know. This whole thing makes me uneasy," Alejandro looked over at Chris just in time to catch the man's watchful gaze. Something about the look Chris gave Alejandro felt suspicious and oddly threatening.


	15. Day 10 Part 2

**Day 10 part 2**

That night, as the campers all sat around the fire an uneasy air passed between them. The rain had cleared up but it had left the camp grounds with a heavy feeling in the air. Eva had yet to be released from the boat house. As the others sat silently they could hear her still yelling her protests and pounding against the door.

Chris could feel the teenagers growing wary and just a bit suspicious. He needed to win them over to ensure they kept their noses out of places he didn't want them.

"Listen up, campers," He said, calling all their attention to him, "I know you've all been a bit stressed the past day or two, so I asked Chef to whip up something special for tonight's bonfire."

Chef placed a tray of desserts on the marshmallow table. There was nothing fancy, but there was a plate of brownies and a few different colors of gelatin.

"You can't win us over with simple confectionaries," Alejandro said before anyone could get up.

"Win you over?" Chris said, feigning innocence, "I'm just trying to make sure we all enjoy a nice, quiet summer at Camp Wawanakwa." The campers looked uneasily between themselves, but no one moved to get up. "Well, come on then. Chef made all this for you, come on and enjoy it, would you? Or would you rather all just go to bed?"

Owen was the first to tentatively get up and take a brownie. A few others followed behind him and the campers started milling about their own conversations. Satisfied, Chris sat down to talk to Chef.

Brownie in hand, Owen took his seat next to Alejandro. With another suspicious look in Chris's direction, Alejandro leaned over to Owen and whispered: "Be weary of that brownie, my large friend."

"Why?" Owen replied, "It's really good, you should try one."

"That may be, but I've got reservations about the man who made it."

"You mean Chef?"

"No, I mean Chris."

"Why are you so suspicious of Chris? He seems like a nice guy."

"This whole situation is odd. I'm telling you, something here isn't right, and I'm going to find out what."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Positive." Alejandro narrowed his eyes at Chris just as the man looked up and caught his glare. The two shared a look of mutual suspicion and distaste before reluctantly turning back to the conversations around them.

A few seats over, sat Duncan, DJ, Geoff, Bridgette, and Courtney. The girls were talking between themselves when Beth came by with the plate of green jelly with a small, purple gummy worm in the center.

"Do either of you want any?" She offered the two girls.

"No!" Courtney shrieked, before quickly recomposing herself, "I mean, no thanks. I'm good."

"What, are you on a diet or something?" Duncan asked.

"No," She responded, defensively, "I just don't like green jelly, okay?"

Beth shrugged in understanding and moved past Courtney and Bridgette to the boys. She held the plate out to DJ who immediately recoiled in fear.

"SNAAAKE!" He cried, grabbing the attention of everyone around the campfire as he flailed his arm out and hit the plate away. The plate of jelly fell to the ground and lost its shape.

Cody reached into the pile of jelly and pulled out the gummy worm. He showed it to DJ reassuringly. "Chill dude," He said, "It's just a gummy worm."

DJ calmed down and caught his breath. "Sorry for trippin'," He said, "Snakes just freak me out."

"I feel you," Tyler said, placing a reassuring hand on DJ's shoulder, "Chickens give me the creeps, dude."

"You're afraid of chickens?" Gwen questioned.

Tyler sighed as Duncan scoffed at him from his seat. "Wow, that's...that's really lame, man."

"It's okay to be afraid," Beth insisted, "My mortal fear is being covered in bugs."

"Ninjas are the one thing that really scares me," Harold added.

"Oh, what, really?" Duncan scoffed, "And when are you gonna cross paths with a ninja?"

"It could happen!" Harold insisted.

"Hey, thanks for sharing, Harold," Chris said, coming back to the group, "Why don't you all go around and share your biggest fear?"

"And why would we do that?" Heather spat.

"Because I'm in charge and I said so," Chris retorted. Now go on. Bond or whatever." No one said anything. "No one wants to start? Fine. I'll pick someone. Gwen, how about you?"

Gwen sighed before opening up. "What's my worst fear? I guess being buried alive."

"Good, good. Next?"

Lindsay was next to speak. "Walking through a minefield in heels."

"Next?"

"Flying man, that's some crazy stuff," Owen added.

"Oh, I would never go up in a plane. Never," Izzy said.

The campers went around, all disclosing their deepest fears. Geoff was afraid of Hail, Heather of sumo wrestlers, Katie and Sadie feared bad haircuts, Trent was afraid of mimes, and Bridgette shared her fear of the woods. Everyone had something to add to the list. The group circled around and attention turned to Courtney when it was her turn to share.

"I'm not really afraid of anything," she claimed, pulling her knees in tight to her chest.

"Bologna," Duncan coughed.

"Oh really? Well, what exactly is your phobia, Mr. Know-It-All?"

Now this was something that got everyone interested. What could big, scary, bad boy Duncan possibly be afraid of. Duncan suddenly got sheepish as he quickly mumbled "Celine Dion music store standees."

"Exqueeze me?" Cody said in shock, putting his hand up to his ear, "I didn't quite get that.

"Dude, did you say Celine Dion music store Standees?" Trent asked.

Duncan covered his face, feeling everyone's judgment coming down on him.

"Ooh, I LOVE Celine Dion!" Lindsay squealed. "What's a standee?"

"You know those cardboard cutout things that stand in the music store?" Sierra explained to her.

"Don't say it, dude!" Duncan cried.

"It's kinda like a life sized but flat Celine," Trent added.

"So if we had a cardboard standee right now..." Courtney said, mockingly leaning in closer to Duncan.

"Shut up!" He called, covering his ears.

"All right, Courtney," Trent said, "You're afraid of something. Spit it out."

"Nope," She said, "Nothing."

Duncan scoffed, turning to DJ and Geoff, "That's not what she said the other night."

"Duncan, did you ever consider that maybe I was just humoring you and your stupid story?"

"Sure, sure, Princess, whatever floats your boat."

"Shut up!"

"Tell us what you're afraid of and I will."

"I told you I'm not afraid of anything."

"Yeah, and I told you I didn't believe it."

"Ugh! Can't you just leave me alone?"

"I don't know, Princess, why don't you make me?"

"Tat's enough," Chris cut in. "I think you've all bonded enough for one night. Go to bed, would you? Seriously, at least stop yelling. Enjoy your day off tomorrow, and I'll see you at the campfire!"

The campers stood and started to meander toward the cabins. Some of them chatted about the fears they shared or the ones they heard that night. As they walked, Duncan followed very close to Courtney.

"Can I help you?" She snapped at him.

"You're afraid of something, I know it."

"For the last time, I told you-"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna find out what it is, just you wait."

Courtney rolled her eyes before entering the girl's cabin and got ready for bed.


End file.
